Sly Cooper 5: A Thief's Hidden Treasure, A Thief's Hidden Secret
by NikkiPark99
Summary: Sly Cooper is lost in Ancient Egypt after defeating Le Paradox. However, he finds another raccoon, Marta Kant, in the broken time machine that went with him. Meanwhile The Cooper gang, including Inspector Carmelita Fox, anxiously looks for Sly. Cooper reunites with his team but later finds a HUGE secret... A secret Sly never knew, a secret that Sly and the gang.. will never forget.
1. A New Friend

**Chapter One: A New Friend**

***I do not own Sly Cooper, Sanzaru and Sucker Punch does. Enjoy, this is my first fanfic!***

***WARNING: SPOILER ALERT WITH ALL SLY COOPER GAMES***

"Ta ta, Cooper!" Le Paradox flew off his Time machine with Sly's parachute. The skunk headed down, watching his hard work fall in pieces. In the sky Bentley, Murray and Carmelita saw a bright flash and the time machine vanished.

Sly saw all these bright lightning-like flashes around him as he is being sucked into, what he thought never ending time.

Suddenly, BAM! The time machine of Le Paradox crashed! Sly flew out and landed in the soft ground, his face down in the sand. His mid-sleeved blue shirt and grey fur was full of the yellow sand.

"Ah... my head..." Sly mumbled. He picked up his head and opened his eyes to nothing but a blanket of sand covering the ground and huge open space.

"Where am I?" Sly slowly stood up. The slight wind blew sand in Sly's face as his ears swayed with the breeze.  
"Anyone there? Hello?"

The raccoon walked around for a while, finding no answers.

Sly thought to himself. "I have no idea where I am... Did Bentley, Murray and Carmelita make it out safely? Do they know where I am? Oh man... Carmelita... how is she feeling after seeing the time machine disappear? Is she thinking that was the very last time seeing me? I miss her already... I hope they made it out safely and know where I am."  
Hours went by, all Sly found was the broken destroyed time machine.  
"It's getting dark. I guess I'll stay inside the machine and figure out what to do tomorrow. I'm so exhausted."

The raccoon moved his feet towards the doorway of the machine, the lower half was buried underground.

***Next Day***

Sly woke up the following morning with the morning sun peeking in through the machine. Sly felt in need of food and decided to look around the machine, well what's left of it.

"Come on, Le Paradox had to have some food in here..."

He turns around and unexpectedly sees a young female raccoon lie cold on the ground. She didn't look dead, just unconscious. She wore a black t-shirt and capris. Her short and brown hair sat on her face.

Sly was confused. He never met this girl. He knew she didn't belong in this time period, like him.

"Yup she's unconscious. I'll just wait for her to wake up, hopefully she'll give answers... What is this... where am I?"

* * *

A couple hours passed and Sly felt more anxious by the minute. No food to be found, located in an unknown area, and another raccoon still not waking up. he sat there and analyzed the girl's face. "Where did she come from? Did she work for Le Paradox? I need answers now..."

Finally, he saw the girl's eyes peek open. The raccoon rubbed her chocolate-brown eyes as she weakly sat up. She felt a major headache, making her scratch her head with her left arm. Sly didn't know what to do... watching her wake up. Should he greet her? He doesn't even know her that well, she could be a threat to him.  
"Ugh my head... what happened?"  
Her face showed irritation by the way she rubbed her eyes. She closed her bloodshot eyes, and then opened them to a grown male raccoon, older than her.  
The little raccoon jumped in terror, scared with seeing someone other than Le Paradox. Her voice was shaky, a little thick too. "Who are you?!"

"I was going to ask you the same." Sly said.  
They were cautious towards each other, they didn't know if the other was good or bad.

"You're not going to hurt me, are you?"  
Sly chuckled. "No. I found you unconscious on the ground... I wanted to know who you are and why you're here. We should get to know each other, since I have no idea where we are. Start with our names. What's your name?"  
"Okay... Marta Kant. What is yours?"  
"My name is Sly. Sly Cooper."

She felt her heart skip a beat.

Marta replied, "Yo-You-... You are Sly Cooper? Th-the one that The Fiendish Five, The Klaww gang and Le Paradox hated?!"  
Sly was shocked that she knew this information.

"Uh... yeah... how do you know them? And me?"  
"Well... I uh... well The Fiendish Five owned me at a certain point, and named me. I was lost after The Panda King was defeated, by you. The Klaww gang took me a couple years after a villager in China wanted to keep me, The Klaww Gang kept me for a short period of time, then some girl named Neyla gave me to the Paradox family. Now here I am in his machine and I think we crashed or something. Wait, where is he?"

"He's in Paris I hope. I have no idea where we are. Now, how do you know me?"

"Well I spent most of my life with the Fiendish Five. They took pages from your Thievius Raccoonus book. I was kind of curious so when they didn't notice I took some and loved all the stories! I secretly loved your work. I was told to hate the Coopers. Thing is, I didn't like that. I was so inspired by everything you and your ancestors did."

"Wow" said Sly. "Where are your parents?"  
Marta looked down, disappointed.  
"You're an orphan, aren't you?" Sly asked.

"When I was taken from the Klaww Gang, they told me that my parents didn't want me, so they gave me away. I never met them..."  
Sly frowned. "I'm an orphan too. Thanks to the Fiendish Five, they killed my parents when I was eight. I... saw it with my own eyes..."

"Oh no! They never told me that!" She replied. "They told me they hated you and were against you, but I never knew why. They never told me about killing your parents. I'm sorry... and when I did look at the pages they stole, I taught myself some tricks!"

"So why did the Klaww gang give you to Le Paradox? And whoa wait... you taught yourself moves from The Thievius Raccoonus book?!"

"Well, I was told that all the Klaww gang members were being defeated... by you. Neyla sent me to the Paradox family. She told me I couldn't stay with her and had to be with Le Paradox to be protected from the 'Evil Coopers'. So there you go. And yeah! The tricks are so much fun! You want to see?"

"Well, you have been through a lot little one! So are you sure about the moves?"  
Marta didn't say anything and ran out the time machine, Sly curiously followed. She was astonished with the sight on the place. The sun was shining hot yellow upon the sandy land. Marta stepped on the sparkling sand seeing no one else in sight.

"Whoa, what is this place?"  
"I asked the exact same thing..."

Marta glanced over to the time machine and ran towards it. Her body double jumped in the air and grabbed a metal bar hanging from it. She climbed up to the top of the machine. Marta's feet walked on a very narrow piece of the broken wooden floor that was laying on the machine, ran as fast as she could on the long piece of wood, it broke and she fell down but effortlessly landed on a point. Sly opened his mouth with amazement.  
He was absolutely speechless.

"So how was it? I know it wasn't much... but I didn't stay with The Fiendish Five for THAT long before the pages were taken back."  
"Ho-ho-how can yo-you do th-th-at? Only a Cooper can do such moves!" Sly said. Marta giggled, taking it as a compliment.

"Wow... how old are you?" Sly asked.

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. The Fiendish Five never told me my birth date, and never celebrated. They were nice to me, yet never let me see the outside world. I used your Thievius Raccoonus pages and other things to entertain me. Le Paradox was mean to me though... he was so obsessed making a time machine blimp. Thank goodness he's not here now. So out here, is this the real world? It looks... empty, really. Not really what I was expecting."

"No... maybe we should look around, maybe to know where we are."

"Okay."

"Wait, over there!" Sly points. "Is that a... pyramid? We're in... Egypt? Ancient Egypt..."

* * *

***I know it was a little short but hey! It gets better, trust me! Chapter Two is up next.***


	2. The Palace

**Chapter Two: The Palace**

"Wake up little one!" yells Sly. "I have today planned, get up!"

Marta slowly opens her eyes, wakes up to seeing Sly smiling. "We have a big day ahead of us! I think we should know more about each other."

Marta gets up and stretches, yet reaches towards her stomach. "Sly... I'm very hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"

"Nope" Sly answered. "But I bet people in Egypt do, especially the Pharaoh. If you want food, come with me."

"I read about Ancient Egypt before. It's cool to actually see it in life." thought Marta.

Marta's heart races quickly as she runs with Sly. She sees workers building statues, working so hard. She kind of feels bad for them, yet thinks constantly on the way, "Is Sly going to steal, and I get to see his thief tricks? That would be so cool!"

They get close to the palace where the Pharaoh is located, but it's surrounded by guards. These guards were dogs dressed up as an Anubis. The palace was very beautiful, decorated with yellow and white stones. There were statues of different animals, decorated with blinding gems. A red carpet lied in front of the entrance and flags hung from ropes attached from the roof of the palace. The view was astonishing.

Marta and Sly stood in front of the palace, staring at its beauty. Marta's face turns puzzled. "How do we get in?" Sly suddenly thought of Bentley, how he always told Sly what to do. He's not there anymore, just like that one time when Bentley was too depressed to even come out of his shell. Sly knows that now, he needs to figure things out himself and hope for the best.

Sly looks around, hoping to find a way to get inside. He spots the ropes hang from the roof. The ropes are attached to the flag poles.

Sly answers, "I think we should climb on those flag poles and walk on the ropes to the palace. That way the guards won't see us. I believe there may be a way inside from the roof. I have no idea what to do if that doesn't work out."

Marta smiles. "It's worth a try! Lets go!" She runs faster than lightning towards on of the flag poles. Sly follows, watching her enthusiasm.

She climbs the pole all the way to the top and before you know it, she starts to run on the rope. Sly examines her moves, still puzzled at the fact that she can do them and... so quickly. He follows her up the rope to the palace roof. They each rush to the top of the palace when they discover, there's nothing there. Sly hits his hand against his face. "What a fail."

Marta ignores Sly's reaction, trying to think of a new plan. She looks down at the palace walls. "What about the windows? We can look through one to check if no one is there. Then we crash in! Does that sound right?" Sly glances to Marta, smirking. "Yes it does. Good job Marta! Lets hurry up and then go back to the machine."

Without hesitation, Marta rushes to a window. "Wait!" Sly exclaimed. "We can't be seen! We are in a different time period, we could change the future in a heartbeat!"

"Okay, then we just peek in, come in when no one is there, and BAM! In we go!" Sly smiled and nodded.

They hung from the roof as they peek from the outside window. The one room was very beautiful. The bed was huge, there were very rare but beautiful decorations, walls were painted magenta, a bowl full of fruits on the bed and more expensive treasures.

Marta whispers, "Jackpot! Let's go in!" "Okay but be quiet when you enter."

Sly slowly opens the window and sneaks in the room, followed by Marta. He investigates the room while Marta is in shock from seeing so much goods. "Well, there's no one here but I'm pretty sure This is one of the Pharaoh's wives' rooms." Sly shouts.

Marta goes straight for the extra fruit in the room. When done investigating, Sly goes in for the food. They were gone for so long without food. They quickly finished, but still very hungry. "Let's get more food from another room." Marta said. "Good idea Marta."

Sly spots a hole in the lower part of the wall. "We should go in through that hole in the wall since the hallways is most likely loaded with guards. We can't take the chance. Besides, it looks like it leads to a different area."

Marta hesitantly nodded. "What's wrong?" asked Sly. "I just don't like tight spaces much..."

Sly laughed. "You'll be fine." Sly looks through the opening and smirks at Marta, "Well, ladies first."

They go through the opening and end up in yet again another well done room except... They hear a conversation. Marta looks in and crawls under a table. Sly was about to come out when suddenly he sees a very well dressed man step in front of the opening.

"He looks like the Pharaoh! This must be his room!" thought Sly. The raccoon eavesdrop on the Pharaoh's conversation with one short person dressed in black, with two guards beside him.

"...How could he, dare to steal from my palace! I give thanks to you for telling me their location. There must be consequences for his actions! Yes... consequences no one will forget! Inform him and his son to come here immediately. You two!" Sly watches the Pharaoh turn to his guards. "While she's at it, take me to the execution room. Those two thieves shall eliminated! That will show their family to not mess with the Pharaoh!"

The guards carried the Pharaoh out the room. The woman walked behind and stopped. You couldn't see her face from the black hood she wore. She looked over and met eyes with Sly. The woman looked back and walked out the room.

Marta immediately got up from under the table. "Jeez it felt like forever just crawling! Well I spotted a HUGE bowl of goods right by the dude's bed! Lets dig in and get outta here!" Sly smiled and quickly went to join her.

A guard walks in the room but didn't notice Sly and Marta at first. Marta got really scared and looked at Sly in terror. Sly winks at her and sneaks behind the guard. Suddenly, the guard spots Marta and yells, "HEY! WHO ARE Y-" In a blink of an eye Sly picks the guard up with his cane and slams the guard to the ground, killing him instantly. Marta opens her mouth in shock, seeing such techniques. She yells with excitement, "THAT WAS AWESOME! COOL! You have to teach me that!" Sly smiled and said, "Sure, I guess it won't bite. We need to hurry and go before more come."

Sly and Marta finished and went out the closest window. "Wow it got really dark! We need to get back to the time machine before we do any damage" said Sly. They both walk along the ropes attached to the roof. Sly spotted a grown raccoon-like man and a smaller one next to him walking in the palace followed by two guards.

"Who it that? Are those the guys the Pharaoh was talking about? Wasn't he... accused of stealing? What's going on?" Sly kept filling himself with more questions, just more on the list.

"Sly come on! We need to get outta here! We need to go!" Sly looks at Marta and follows her back to the time machine. They return to the broken time machine with full stomachs. Marta turns to Sly.

"That was so cool stopping the guard like that! Wow, I want to be just like you some day! That was totally mind-blowing Sly!"

Sly glances over to Marta. "You know, you did a pretty good job out there. Anyone can really mistaken you as a Cooper."

Marta blushes. She looks down and gasps. The young raccoon ran into a room in the machine when suddenly you hear, "Wow my room survived! Yes!"

* * *

***Interesting... He learns more about this raccoon, Marta. Well I hope you like it!***


	3. The Gift of Music

**Chapter Three: The Gift Of Music**

Sly follows her to a room that is partly destroyed but full of music sheets, drawings, paintings, writings, different genres of books, and posters of bands.

"This is my room, and all the stuff that I had to well, make my life somewhat happy."

Sly looks at everything in the room and picks up music sheets. "Oh! Those are music sheets I made... yes I do play some nifty instruments."

She goes into her closet and pulls out a flute, an oboe, piccolo, and a guitar, all in their own cases and then gets taken out.

"These are all the instruments I taught myself to play! I wish someday I can learn to play the piano... but anyways this is one of the things I do in my spare time, MAKE MUSIC!"

Sly is overwhelmed. What a really interesting girl, lets put her to the test. "So can you play some tunes for me?"

Marta says excitedly, "I'd love to! There's just one little problem... I can play music that might uh.. put others... to their own world. Maybe a dream or a loving memory. The mood depends on the mood of the song."

"Woah!" Sly said. "That's cool! I'd like to see you try on me!" Marta laughed. "It sounds a little medieval but its calming."

Marta picked up her oboe and started playing. Sly listened to the beautiful calming sound it made. He felt like he was falling nonstop very slowly. The song grew calmer, and so did he. He saw a kid being hugged by his mom, and she was humming the song Marta was playing. Sly recognized the song some how. He had no idea where it came from. He just couldn't remember.

Marta stopped playing and Sly saw the mom look at the kid. The mom said, "So how was that? Uh hello? Sly?"

Sly shook his head and things were normal.

He looked at Marta with surprised eyes.

"Sly *giggle* how was it?"

"That... was beautiful... h-how did you do that?"

"I don't know... I just play with my happy memories or bad memories, depending on the mood of the song."

Sly looks at the sheet and back at Marta. "I know the song... b-but... wait what?"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it! Ha-ha. I guess its like a trick I have or something"

Sly looked at Marta in disbelief and held his head to just think what happened. How she made him see what he saw. It was fascinating! Plain disbelief.

"Sly, it looks like you need to sleep. Go to bed. I'll sleep here tonight. Night!"

Sly got up and walked out of the room. He wondered all night what he just saw and heard. Eventually he gave up and went to sleep. He didn't need more questions on his mind, he just ends the thought as a gift quite unique.

* * *

***Not only did Sly just meet this raccoon, but she can do an amazing trick with music. Sly must be going through a lot now... Will they get out of Egypt soon? You'll see in the next chapter, review if you must! Sorry if it is short, the chapters do get longer.***


	4. Hope

**Chapter Four: Hope**

Sly wakes up after a long nap to the hot shining sun hitting his eyes. He walks around, decides to check Marta. As he enters her room, Marta immediately glanced up at him.

"You must've been so tired! You slept through all morning! Sorry if my music upset you last night..."

Sly smiled. "It didn't, it was... just breath-taking"

Sly went out to sit on the sandy ground, observing the outdoors. Marta came out with him and sat next to him. Sandy breeze came their way. There was just a minute of silence.

"I have no idea how to get out of here..." said Sly. Marta looks at him. "If we ever get to leave, can I come with you?"

Sly smiled with a little laugh, "Of course! You are one interesting and outgoing girl! And what jerk would i be if I left you here? You can be part of my gang! There's always room for more! With the talent you have with playing music, I bet my gang will let you join. That is, if we get out of here..."

"Yay!" Shrieked Marta. "That would be so awesome!"

Another moment of silence passes by as they look at the pyramids and the beautiful sun.

"So Sly... I must ask, what does the present world look like? What is it like to be out there?"

"Well, the real world... if I had to pick one word to describe it, I would say HUGE! There are many kinds of landscapes. Many places to go... some places are beautiful and full of colors while others, not so much. There is good and bad everywhere. Cities glow up with all different colors at night, Different variety of people, different foods, religions, cultures and more! Places where there's freedom and others... not so much. There's a lot to meet and things to discover. It's just... amazing. There's good and bad everywhere. Sometimes it can take your breath away."

"Wow... it really sounds nice. I wish I could see it, or live it."

"Yeah... It is nice."

"So... well I've been really interested in your work, your ancestors work too. I'd like to ask more about you."

"Like?"

"Well, you said you're in a gang. Who are they?"

Sly continues to look at the structures

"Well, it's really just me, Bentley, and Murray. Bentley is the smart one in the gang and makes plans. Murray is the brawn in the gang, his muscles are very useful. But he was to one who ate the cookies we stole as kids."

Marta giggled, "Aw how cute. When did you guys become a group together?"

"Well it started when I went into the orphanage. I met them there and we were together ever since really."

"That's nice... to have friends"

"Yeah it really is."

"So how did you get in this whole mess, y'know with Le Paradox."

"Well I was pretty much retired with my thieving work and well... spent time with... a girl..."

"Aw Sly has a girlfriend! What's her name?"

"Her name is Carmelita Montoya Fox. Well... Inspector Fox."

"Wait so she is a police and you are a thief... how?"

"Complicated right? I was in love with her for a long time... I miss her a lot..."

"Oh Sly..."

"Anyway, so Bentley came to me, long time no see, to inform me that Thievius Raccoonus pages were disappearing. I saw the words disappear with my own eyes! Bentley was working on a time machine and his girlfriend was missing as well. Something was going on with my ancestors. I met some of them, and turns out Le Paradox was trying to erase the Cooper name."

"Oh no! Why did he just target you like that?"

"Well, he wanted to be the best thief and kinda take revenge for what his dad tried doing to my dad."

"What did he do?"

"His dad wanting to steal something and blame it on mine, but he was too late, my dad stole it and his dad was caught."

"Wow... just wow. Don't mess with the Coopers, he-he."

"Ha-ha yeah..."

"So what happened to Bentley's girlfriend?"

"Ha, she ended up working for Le Paradox and took the time machine idea with her"

"Oh yeah I think l saw her! They were building the machine together."

"Yeah she WAS a smart one..."

"If Bentley still has the future machine, can't they come to us?"

"No... unless they know where we are, they can't."

"Oh yeah..."

"Wait... unless they know... where we are..."

"What is it Sly?"

Sly stood up and looked at Marta. "I know a chance to get us outta here..."

* * *

***What is Sly thinking? We'll find out soon but for now, let's see what Carmelita is doing seven months later. Sly and Marta are getting to know each other more, so that's good... Or is it? Anyway, let's see Miss Fox!***


	5. On Patrol

**Chapter Five: On Patrol**

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you! Now hands on your head now! On your knees!"

Carmelita handcuffs yet another criminal. "Ugh I'm so sick of you jerks that get in so much trouble!"

She forcefully puts the one who robbed a bank in her police car. "Pathetic!"

Inspector Fox takes the criminal to jail, same old routine. Does she feel any better? Now that she used to focus on a thief and now he's just... gone. She's just not that happy anymore.

Another cop, very beautiful, long tail, and stripes all over her, goes over to Carmelita.

"Hey Carms! How are you?"

"Eh... not that fine. Just ah... tired."

"Yeah here too. Guess everyone here gets that effect. Hey, are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah... for once. Why?"

"Well you look like you need some brightening up! I haven't seen you happy for months! Would you like to have a girls day? Just me and you!"

"Eh, Rachel you know im not into that girly stuff."

"Well what else are ya gonna do? Spend another 24 hours thinking about that boyfriend of yours? Girl come on, you and me! No boys! You need a break! It's been a long time since we spent time together!"

Carmelita looks down at the ground and back at Rachel, bites her lip and gains tears in her eyes.

"Oh no... you guys... broke up.. didn't you... I'm sorry... It's his loss. Do I need to kill this dude?"

"No... no... I'll be fine. Its been months anyway..."

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned into months, since she saw Cooper. She's exhausted from searching night after night looking for evidence where Sly might be.

"Well if we have our Girls Day Out tomorrow, maybe it will keep your mind from... certain things."

Carmelita had deep thought in this. She does need a break from this emotional distress. *sigh* Carmelita mumbles "I guess I can brighten up a little..."

"What? I think you need to say that a little better!"

The fox rolls her eyes as her voice grew higher. "I guess I can brighten up a little!"

"That's the spirit! We'll meet noon tomorrow at the local food court for lunch! Is that okay?

"That's good. I'll see you then"

As the day starts to end, Carmelita packs her things and goes back home. The home that she spent loving memories with Sly... only now... he's gone.

"Gone... it's just hard to believe! Will he be gone... forever? UGH I can't think of such disaster! Oh why was I such a... a dog to him!"

Carmelita held her hands upon her face.

"I mean... I never wanted him to talk things out but at the same time... I did. I fell for his ancestors! Oh how could I be so stupid! Sly... I miss you... if I saw you again, I would apologize for all I've done... please be alive... I will find you... I must!"

Carmelita grabbed her jacket and a flashlight and stormed out the door. It was getting really dark outside as Carmelita felt the cold breeze blowing in her face.

"First, i'll start where I last saw the machine." Carmelita went out to the lake area, when she used to be below the damaged time machine before it disappeared. She found a big flat piece of wood on the shore. "I guess I'll use this as a raft."

As Carmelita floated further away from the shore she anxiously looked for ANY evidence where Sly might be.

The hopeful fox was very desperate for finding anything. With the flashlight, she spotted a folder. Carmelita opened it and it was filled with papers with writings over them. "These look like the plans that Le Paradox made for all the chaos he made... well how is it working out in jail?"

Carmelita kept looking for answers. The more fallen pieces of the time machine she kept finding, the more frustrated she became.

"Ugh! How can this be possible! Sly... where are you...?"

Carmelita lost hope for the night and decided to turn around.

Suddenly, Carmelita came across with a book floating around. "It looks like a... diary? Please don't tell me Le Paradox kept a DIARY with him..."

It was filled with information about someone's love of music, her thoughts about wanting to escape from Le Paradox, and suspicion of what Le Paradox has been up to. It was also filled with wanting to see what the world was like, and what it might feel like.

"This document was written the same day Sly vanished! I might want to keep this for later. There was someone on that time machine other than Le Paradox... who could Le Paradox keep with him? A girlfriend? Highly doubtful..."

Carmelita put the book down and went back to shore. She spotted a little piece of paper next to a rock.

"Probably another useless part of the time machine."

Her hands reached for the paper and grabbed it. There was nothing on the paper. Carmelita looked on the back and it was a picture of herself and Sly. Sly was kissing her in the photo.

"I... remember when this was taken. He still kept it..." Carmelita put the picture against her chest as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I love you..."

She took her belongings plus the book and picture and called it a day.

* * *

***Aw... :( Poor Carmelita... Will the Girl's Night Out with Rachel make her feel better... or worse... Will she find someone new? All held in the next chapter.***


	6. Girls' Day Out

**Chapter Six: Girl's Day Out**

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!**

Carmelita immediately opens her eyes the annoying sound of her alarm clock. She takes her fist and slams it on the alarm clock to make it stop. Its nine o'clock in the morning and Carmalita hears the birds chirping outside and sees the sun peeking out.

"Seems like a nice day. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to meet Rachel at noon. I guess I'll get ready to see her."

***Later***

Carmelita arrives at the local food court a little before noon, looking for Rachel. There's a family next to her, a husband and wife with their two children. Carmelita grew upset the more she saw the couple hold hands and talk with each other.

"Hey Carmelita! Over here!"

Carmelita looks over her shoulder and sees Rachel. Rachel smiles, and walks towards Carmelita.

"Well, let's sit here!" Exclaimed Rachel. "I'm glad you made it with me today! Look I have a lot planned today, i just want to know if you approve these ideas!"

"Okay, go right ahead"

"Well first I was planning on eating lunch here, if you haven't already"

"Nope, not yet. Now just keep going"

"Okay. After the food, we go to that park just to talk and walk around."

Rachel points at the park right across the food court.

"Okay and then?"

"Well since we both enjoy books, we could go to the library. Maybe we can check out a couple of books! Either that or go to an art museum."

"Eh, i'd prefer art. More entertaining"

"Okay" Rachel said. "Art it is. Then we go to the mall!"

"Ugh! Rachel you know I hate that girly stuff!"

"But maybe we can-"

"No I refuse!"

"Okay..."

Rachel grew a frown on her face.

"Well... fine I'll think about it."

"Yay! And after that we watch a movie at the theaters. It's your choice if you agree to go to the mall." Rachel said in a sarcastic tone.

"Dont push it..."

The girls finished their food they got and went straight to the park.

Rachel looks over to the flowers and trees.

"Very beautiful, isn't it!"

"Yeah it is. Wow look up there!"

Carmelita points at the bird nest in the tree as a mother bird feeds her three baby birds.

"*gasp* Aw how cute! They are so adorable!" shrieked Rachel

"Yeah... they are..."

"Woah, who is this guy?"

Carmelita looks around her until she sees the guy. He had brown fur with a tan coat and dress pants. He had glasses and had wolf-like teeth. This man was sitting on the bench, studying something in his hand.

He was very attractive to Carmelita.

"I... don't... know"

"HEY YOU!" Rachel cried out. "YOU WITH THE GLASSES!"

The man looks over towards the girls. Carmelita looks at Rachel. She whispers loudly.

"What are you doing?!"

Rachel ignores Carmelita's reaction. "You look gorgeous today!"

The man smiled, glanced at Carmelita and continued studying.

Carmelita slapped Rachel's arm.

"What was that for!?"

Rachel giggled. "Come on girl, you must have fun sometime!"

Carmelita always heard that from Sly. "Yeah... right..."

Carmelita glanced at the man and smirked.

The girls continued walking.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you!"

Carmelita looks at her. "What is it?"

"Last night after you left, an elementary teacher called in to see if the Inspector can go to their occasional 'Job Day' program."

"Uh, okay. What will I be doing? And when?"

"Well, you will be introducing to kids what it's like in your job, what you do, what you need and so on. They might ask questions and that's it really. There are going to be other people with different jobs, im guessing. And we were planning tomorrow."

"Okay I'll do it. Someone needs to watch over the idiots though."

"Ha-ha, don't worry I'll do it."

Carmelita smiled and looked back at the nature. She saw another man playing with his son in the yard.

Sadness filled her yet again. "Why does everything remind me of him... Ugh."

The girls arrive at the Art Museum. Carmelita likes art, she always had paintings her and Sly both liked hanging on the walls of their house.

"Woah!" said Rachel. "Look at this one!"

Carmelita looked at the painting. It was a painting of all kinds of flowers in a vase.

"You sure like nature, don't you"

Rachel looked at her and smiled.

Carmelita looked around. "I'll just look at the other pieces"

She walked around and one painting caught her eye. It was called "The Mona Lita".

The description said, "Made by a famous Renaissance painter. A brave knight reported to the artist to make a painting of a girl the knight recently met. The knight gave descriptions of what the woman looked like, and this is what they ended up with. The woman was unknown so they named her Mona Lita"

"Very cute Galleth... really cute"

Carmelita looked at more paintings and sculptures. "Wow, this one sculpture of a girl looks very pretty."

The art distracted Carmelita for a while, and so did Rachel. They met up after seeing most of the work.

"So Carms, thinking about going to the mall?"

"Well, it depends. What kind of movies are you interested in?"

"Anything fiction or romantic."

"Ew, fine I'll go to the mall, but im picking the movie."

They head to the closest mall. Rachel shrieks as she enters the mall doors. "I havent been in the mall for so long!"

People are everywhere, going in and out of stores. "Oh! Lets go clothes shopping first! You can go for a new style!"

"This is going to be a long day." thought Carmelita.

Hours passed by, Rachel forces Carmelita to dress in kinds of clothes. The only clothes Carmelita liked were jeans and a tank top.

"Why don't you try on this shirt! It has one strap and I know it'll look it'll look great on you!"

"No Rachel!"

"Fine. I'm buying clothes for you, but please promise to wear some of them at least! Maybe on occasions or anytime but please?"

"I'll try I guess."

The girls go into other stores that sell things like jewelry, candles, shoes, home decorations, and music stores.

"No way!" yelled Carmelita. "They have music CDs of 'The Gaping Holes'! I'm getting this one!"

"Yes, you finally liked something in the mall to buy! About time!"

They both giggled, Carmelita bought the cd and they left the store.

"So Rachel, you ready for a movie?"

"Depending on what it is, sure!"

As the girls left the mall, they noticed it was getting dark out.

"We'll take my car there." Rachel said. "It's quite a drive"

"How long?"

"About a half an hour."

They both went in Rachel's car and drove off.

Rachel drives on the road, and starts a conversation.

"So you enjoyed the day so far? It looks like you've brighten up."

"Yeah I have. I really did need this. Thanks Rachel."

"No prob' babe! We both needed this! I had so much fun!"

Carmelita turns on the radio to her favorite music channel. Next thing you know, the friends sing along together to their favorite songs as they head for the movies.

The girls see the movie suggestions on the theater walls.

"Oh! Lets see this one! It looks interesting!"

Carmelita points to the movie preview. Rachel looks at it with dismay.

"But... it looks scary"

"Exactly!"

"Oh heck no! I wanted to see a movie, not a future nightmare for ten nights in a row!"

"Ugh kill joy."

Carmelita looked at more but another one caught her attention. "An action movie. Perfect!" Carmelita thought.

"Rachel! This looks like an interesting movie. Its action packed! Let's see it!"

"Well our jobs are full of action so what the heck. Why not. Let's see it."

The movie starts off with a man trying to find his kidnapped girlfriend. He tries to find her, but there's no evidence. He eventually finds the people who kept her and sold her, and killed every last of them. He finds the girl dead, yes sad moment, and eventually gets a new girlfriend. The girlfriend takes his pain away.

"That was an interesting movie Carms. It's been a really great time with you."

Rachel yawns. "I'm getting a little tired. I'll see you tomorrow. Wait, you'll be at that job thing. Okay then the day after tomorrow."

Carmelita giggled. "Yes. Do you mind if you drop me off my house. I'm sorry, I walked to the food court today."

"I can but... its far from my house... I don't know if I'll make it."

"Haha, its okay. You can stay at my house. I'll drive too."

"Sounds good."

When Carmelita arrived at her house, she supplied Rachel with sleep wear. They shared the same bed and Rachel immediately fell asleep. Carmelita wasn't quite tired. She looked to her left and saw the diary laying on a table next to her. "I wonder..."

Carmelita started to read the diary. The more pages she read, the more she knew about the girl who remained in the time machine with Le Paradox.

"Weird she is... So there was another on board. So if Sly went with the machine, he went with a girl too. Wait..."

Carmelita thought of the movie she just watched.

"What if Sly is... dead... should I move on? Or what if he falls for the girl after not knowing how to get back home? What if he starts a new life there? Should I just... move on?"

Carmelita felt slight depression, to anger. "Why didn't he listen to Bentley! He would've left Le Paradox out to die with his own creation! But no, he defeats that skunk, yet who knows where Sly is, and Le Paradox is safe in jail! Sly took the chance of his friends and even me to worry if he's even alive!"

Carmelita slammed the book back on the table and drifted away to sleep.

* * *

***If only she knew... will Sly fall for Marta? We'll find out in future chapters but for now, Carmelita's Job Day presentation is next.***


	7. Job Day

**Chapter Seven: Job Day**

"Wake up Carmelita. Come on, wake up."

Carmelita opens her eyes, stretches and yawns.

"I'm going to work now. You need to get ready for the Job Day at the Grendy Elementary School. I'll see you tomorrow. Tell me how it goes!"

Rachel leaves the house and takes her car.

Carmelita got up and stretched again.

"Maybe I should wear my uniform to show the kids. I'll bring my shock pistol too."

Inspector Fox got ready and drove to the school.

When Carmelita arrived at the Elementary school, she sees a teacher coming to welcome her.

"Hello! You must be Inspector Fox!"

"Yeah, that's me"

"Good! I'm glad you made it! I bet the kids would love to know about law enforcement. There are other people here presenting their jobs, so you should wait in the gymnasium, where this is being taken. It will start shortly. To the gym, you enter and take a left, then enter the hallway on the right, and you'll see the gym on the left. When you go in, just walk to the back, you'll see adults. Those are the ones presenting as well. See you soon!"

"Okay, thanks for the directions."

Carmelita walks in the school and is very pleased what she sees. The walls are covered with friendly paintings.

One painting is a beautiful apple tree and above the picture says, "Welcome to our Family Tree!"

Another one was a painting of kids from different areas holding hands around the Earth. "Make the world a better place!" was written under the Earth.

"Woah." thought Carmelita. "They really put time into this school!"

Even words were painted on the walls. "Failure is not an option." "Treat others the way you want to be treated" "Respect"

There were greetings in different languages written all over the walls.

"Wow how nice!" Carmelita said.

She enters the gym, and the floor is full of kids grades two through five. "Wow there are a lot of kids."

Carmelita spots the other people who will also be presenting. As soon as she walks towards them, the school gets ready for the presentations.

The staff and principal of the school went on stage. The principal, Miss Whiskers makes a speech before things get started.

"Hello fellow students. Today will be a very fun day! We have a few visitors with us today who would like to talk about their career, what they like about it, and so on. You may ask questions after each is done presenting. Remember kids, be respectful towards everyone here. You may want to know the information as this might be your job in your future. Enjoy!"

The kids clapped as the staff and principal went off the stage. One teacher however remained.

She walked towards the microphone. "Okay, let's start with Mrs. Waller, a nurse.

Carmelita watches the woman go onstage. The teacher gives the microphone to her, remains onstage, and the Nurse speaks.

"Hello! My name is Jasmine Waller! Y'know, when i was your age, I always wanted to help people. I really liked the fact of someone being happy. In my job as a nurse, that's exactly what I do! I help the ones who are sick and I comfort them to make them happy. It's very busy in a hospital where I work in, and it can be hard, but its nice to feel that you helped someone live that day."

The woman kept going on about her job and why she liked it. Carmelita was very impressed with what a nurse does everyday. Many more people came on stage, such as a doctor, pilot, fireman, detective, astronomer, and then...

"That was very interesting! Thanks to Mr. Shineway! Next we have... Miss Fox, an Inspector!" Carmelita walked onstage, feeling a little nervous.

"Oh boy, here we go, keep your cool and show these kids what you're made of."

The teacher smiles at Carmelita as she gave her the microphone.

"Hello. My name is Carmelita Montoya Fox, and I'll inform you about being a cop like me."

Carmelita thought to herself. "Wait, be more kid friendly..."

"Here's the thing, I bust people who do bad things they're not supposed to do. So If I catch any of you stealing things from your friends, make temper tantrums, or being mean to others, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

The kids looked at her, a little scared. That quickly went away, as soon as Carmelita pulled out her shock pistol.

"If the person who acts bad doesn't listen to me, they get shot, with this shock pistol!"

The kids looked at the pistol in amazement. Many kids whispered "Woah... cool"

"So you know the big bad wolf that kept messin' with the three little pigs?" Next thing you hear is the audience giggling.

Carmelita looks to her left, right, back at the kids and then whispers in the microphone, "I shot him with this pistol!"

The kids gasps.

"Now, getting shot with this hurts. It electrocutes you a little. Kinda like if you were hit with... LIGHTNING!"

Their little mouths opened wide.

"So who wants to get shot with this pistol? Anyone? You wanna try?"

They all shook their heads no.

"Ha-ha, I was kidding anyway. The police are supposed to protect you from bad people, that's why we lock them in jail. Plus, the more good you're at police work, the cooler uniforms you get! So I think I'm done. Any questions?"

One third grader raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"So, you get to beat people up?"

Carmelita smiles. "Only if necessary. Remember, police are supposed to be good, that's why they bring the bad ones to jail."

A little girl raised her hand.

"And how about you?"

"Is it fun to shoot people with that?"

Carmelita chuckled. "Well for me it depends on who it is." Carmelita thought of Sly. "Now before I go always remember, in case of an emergency, call 911. Stay away from drugs and stay in school, or your future is my gun. Thank you. I hoped you enjoyed it!"

Everyone clapped for Carmelita as she walked off stage.

"Wow, kids aren't that bad, if raised well. It would be nice to have a family of my own. They're kinda cute!" Carmelita thought.

The teacher spoke in the microphone once again.

"What a show Inspector Fox made! Now we have one more presenter, and then when he's done we will go to our normal classrooms and talk about your career choice. Here's our last presenter, Paxton Wolfe!"

The man walked on the stage. "Hey everyone! My name is Paxton Wolfe! My career is being an archaeologist. Being an archaeologist is SO much fun in my opinion!"

Carmelita sees something familiar about the man.

"Sometimes, I forget to eat because my career keeps me happily occupied!"

"I know this man from somewhere!" thought Carmelita.

"In my job, I get to dig up things that were around thousands of years ago!"

The children became very inspired.

"Wait.. " thought Carmelita. "He's the guy from the park yesterday! The glasses, color, good looks..."

"When I dig up these ancient objects, also known as artifacts, I get to analyze what the object is and what it's used for."

"He seems smart too." Carmelita smiles to herself.

"I found unique inventions from different time periods. An artifact can also be something useless as long as it came from a different time."

Carmalita was lost in her thoughts about this guy. "He seems ... really nice. Maybe... we should talk. His ... name is Paxton. Wow..."

Paxton finishes his presentation and hands over the microphone to the teacher. Carmelita watches the man come off stage.

"How about an applause for Paxton and everyone who took their time to be here with us today!"

All the staff, children, and the principal clapped for all the presenters. Carmelita was still daydreaming, not even realizing whats going on around her.

Miss Whiskers walks back on stage.

"I'd like to say thank you all, presenters for inspiring these kids, staff for making this possible, and children for being quiet and respectful during this whole time! Visitors shall leave now and my children, stay seated until they leave."

Carmelita, eyes still locked on Paxton, follows him as he leaves the school. "What should I say? I don't want to freak him out or anything. What if he's not single? Is this a good move? I guess i'll find out..."

Carmelita looks around and looks back at Paxton. She taps his shoulder. "What the Hell did I just do?!" she thought.

Paxton looks over, meets his eyes with hers, and smiles.

"Uh, hey" Carmelita said.

Paxton still smiling, responded "Well hello there."

Carmelita blushed. "Nice presentation there."

"Yeah! You did a fine job yourself, Inspector Fox."

A giggle escaped Carmelita's mouth.

Paxton continued.

"I recognize you, weren't you with your friend in the park yesterday, and your friend..." Paxton interrupted himself with a small laugh. "...called me gorgeous?"

Carmelita blushed even more. "Yeah... that's my friend! Haha..."

"Interesting. It's nice to see you again. I never expected you to be a policewoman! I have not yet told the truth, you looked too pretty and innocent at the park to be a cop. Now that's what I call an under-cover cop!"

Carmelita looks at the ground and back at him. "He called me pretty! Oh his nice calming brown eyes with glasses looking straight at me, smiling! Okay Carmelita, keep your cool."

Carmelita responded with a teasing smile, "Oh shut up..."

"I'm serious! You do!"

Paxton glances at his watch.

"Oh I'm sorry Carmelita, It's time to look at more of my artifacts! Here, I'll give you my number, maybe we could, maybe if you want to, go out on a date with me sometime."

Paxton smiles at Carmelita as he gives her his number.

"I'll see you later, Miss Fox!"

"Yeah! See you!"

Carmelita watches him walk into the parking lot and then drive away in a black car.

"NO. WAY. Wait... what about Sly...?"

Carmelita pondered for a while.

"No... he's probably dead... If he is alive, how will I find him? What if he's lost in time? Bentley doesn't even know how to find him! Well at least Paxton makes me... happy. Well, so did Sly! I just hope Paxton takes my pain away... from Sly. I still miss him."

* * *

***Will she stay with man and leave Sly... for good? Will this man turn out... better than a lying thief like Sly? Well, the date of Miss fox and the wolf is up soon... What does Rachel feel about this?***


	8. Just Like Teenage Years

**Chapter Eight: Just Like Teenage Years**

The next day, Carmelita was found in her office at Interpol. She examines her gun as her feet are up on her desk. Carmelita seems in a good mood, as she glances at the piece of paper with a phone number written on it. There's no criminal wanted at the moment... not anymore.

Someone knocks on Inspector Fox's door.

"Come in."

Carmelita glances over and sees Rachel.

Rachel smiles. "Hey girl! Whatcha' up to?"

Carmelita happily responds, "Nothing. Just nothing anymore, if you're talking job wise."

"I know... its weird. Some officers actually told me that they wanted to leave."

"Well, they can leave after our conversation."

"Wow, are you okay? Having a fever or something?"

Carmelita's face turned concerned.

"No... why?"

"Well I come in here with you happy as can be, I havent seen you randomly happy in months, and you're actually going to give us ALL the day off."

Carmelita laughed. "I'm fine Rachel. It's just... I met this guy..."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You've better chosen the right one Carms. I don't want you to go through Hell again! Ugh... tell me girl, what's he like? I better approve this personality!"

"Well, lets see..." Carmelita smirks as she speaks. "He is intelligent, kind, handsome and such a gentleman, i'm blushing just thinking of him!"

"Girl, you got bit by the love bug... what does he look like?"

"Rachel, you should know since you called him gorgeous two days ago." Rachel's mouth drops. "Oh my gosh really! The guy in the park?!"

Carmelita looks down and smiles even more, although she feels slight pain in her heart. "Yeah, him."

"So you talked with him, right? Oh my gosh girl tell me EVERYTHING!"

Rachel's enthusiasm grew more as she sat on Carmelita's desk.

Carmelita giggled. "Well it started at the Job Day, at the Elementary school. He also presented his job. He is an archaeologist. His name is Paxton Wolfe."

"Ah, seems nice so far. Did you guys talk?"

"Yes, he even-"

Rachel interrupted, raising her one eyebrow. "So this is just a crush, right? Nothing more?"

Carmelita picked up the piece of paper with the phone number on it and holds it in the air, a smirk appears on her face.

"I guess I'll find out."

Rachel's eyes opened more of disbelief. She snatched the paper from Carmelita's hand and examined it.

"No! It's going to happen again! Don't call this number!"

Carmelita's smirk turned into a frown. "What will happen again? And why not?"

Rachel's voice starts to become a little higher.

"Carms! You remember the last time you had a boyfriend, Constable Cooper! You were depressed for months! You don't need another man on your hands!

Carmelita had tears in her eyes, thinking to herself. "I still love you Sly. I know I won't love this man like I loved you. I just need something to forget. I've tried and so did Bentley. I can't live like this forever..."

Rachel took a deep breath and looked at Carmelita.

"Look Carms, I'm sorry. Do what you think will make you happy. I just don't want you to get hurt from this guy."

"I won't Rachel. Thanks. I need to be alone... please."

"Yeah... no problem."

Rachel gets up and walks towards Carmelita's door. She opens it, glances over to Carmelita, and drops the paper as she leaves.

Carmelita sighs distressfully.

Hours passed, still no one to be put in jail.

Carmelita looks over to the door. "I guess I can start looking for Sly again..."

Carmelita removes her feet from on top of her desk and stands up. Carmelita walks over to the door. Her hand meets up with the doorknob but spots the piece of paper on the ground. She bends over to pick it up and looks at the number. Inspector Fox glances at her work phone and smiles.

Carmelita runs over to her phone and calls the number. It rang, and again, and again. Four more times. Carmelita was about to hang up but then she hears a low voice in the phone. Carmelita's heart skips a beat as the man spoke.

"Hello? Who is this? I'm kind of busy here so make it quick."

Carmelita was a little surprised with his unexpected attitude.

"Hey, Paxton. This is Carmelita, the-"

"Ah yes, Carmelita. Sorry for being a little rude there. Whats going on beautiful?"

Carmelita giggled. "Well just nothing to do. No one to bust anymore."

"Well that's good, I guess."

"So..." said Carmelita. "Maybe we can think of that date."

"Oh babe, I would but I'm busy with my work. I'm free in... uh three days. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay that seems fine."

"Okay, I'll see you then and ill pick you up at the park where we met at five. Is that okay?"

Carmelita smiled. "Yes it does."

Paxton chuckled. "Well I have to go now. I'll see you in three days! I can't wait to see you beautiful."

"I cant wait either!"

Paxton hung up.

"Wow, he seems really sweet! Busy man though. Oh well, at least he compliments me a lot. Sure Sly did, but I felt Sly cared more about his thieving work. I couldn't really tell if he meant his love towards me or he faked it. Sly lied to me too! I also lied to myself as well... This guy though, he wants to meet me where we first met! How... thoughtful... Sly wasn't that thoughtful, towards me at least."

* * *

***What will happen next? Will Carmelita like Paxton and forget about Sly? Speaking of the raccoon, what is he up to. we left off with him having an idea after three days of being lost. I hope you like my story and find it somewhat interesting. Sly and Marta are up next!***


	9. Memories

**Chapter Nine: The Memories**

"Good! That takes care of it! Now we stay here and wait."

Sly smiles, hoping that his plan will work.

"You know Sly, that was an awesome idea!" said Marta. "So what do you want to do now? We have enough food... I have no idea what else to do."

"I don't know. Maybe you could do stuff in your room. Its starting to get dark anyways. I'll be in there shortly, I just would like to think to myself, watch the sunset too."

"Okay, no prob', you okay?"

Sly sighed. "Yeah, just need some time alone."

Marta replied, "Okie dokie!" as she walks into the broken time machine.

Sly lies on his back, watching the clouds go by. He became upset by each minute. "Will they look for me? Is it possible to find me, even with my plan? Will they give up?"

Sly sighed again, and places his hands on his face.

"I miss Carmelita... sure the thieving was good but... she's more important to me. I haven't been showing that to her. She knew I was lying about the amnesia... but she still stayed with me. I love her, and I've been such a jerk to her. If I ever see her again, the first thing I'll do is apologize and tell her I love her. The thing is, she wont quit her police work and I can't resist not stealing anything! It's in my blood! She is serious about her work... we are the opposite but both fight for justice. I steal from other thieves, she puts them to jail. Can we live like that? I love her , enough to marry her... I wonder how she feels! Its been a couple of days since I was lost. She must be worried sick... THE TEAM must be worried sick... I miss Bentley and Murray. They have done so much for me. I'm nothing without Bentley's brains and Murray's muscle. We are a team... now a forced separated team instead of a chosen separated team... My plan was all I can do... Will I be stuck here in sandy Egypt, stealing from the Pharaoh? Will I die here? Will Marta die here? Will we die as we are lost in a different time period?"

The sun lowered the more Sly thought, the more depressed he became.

"It's getting dark... I guess I'll-"

Sly gets interrupted by the sound of a guitar and Marta's beautiful singing.

"Wow... how nice." Sly thought.

Sly comes inside the broken time machine but as soon as he steps one foot in, he gets another flashback.

The slow version of this song drifts Sly away into another vision. The lyrics that Marta is singing however are very depressing.

"-I pulled away to face the pain

I close my eyes and drift away

Over the field

That I will never find a way to hear my soul

And I will wonder until the end of time

Torn away from you

My heart is broken."

***Vision***

Sly sees his father put him in the closet as his father says, "Stay safe my boy. I love you, make me proud. I know you will."

The father hesitantly looks at the door as you hear it being broken down. A bright light flashes and he sees himself holding hands with Carmelita.

Another man forcefully takes Carmelita, but she doesn't seem to argue. She waves goodbye to Sly as the man takes her to the dance floor as they dance together. "No..."

Sly is unable to move in the vision as he tries to reach Carmelita. A force makes him drop on his knees as he watches Carmelita.

Marta stops playing as she heard a thud, yet Sly is still watching the vision.

He re-sees Bentley getting crushed by Clock-La's beak, re-lives the moment when he gets almost crushed to death by the monster of Dr. M on Kaine Island, and sees yet again himself going away in time.

Marta goes out her room and sees Sly at the doorway of the time machine, lost in space and kneeling on his knees. "Oh my gosh... oh my... OH NO! Sly wake up please!"

Marta places both of her hands on Sly's shoulders, shaking him.

Sly saw another flash when Marta touched him and sees her talking to The Panda King.

"Oh please may I go see what the outside is like, Panda King? I read about China and it's beauty! I must at least see it! Please?"

"Look Marta, I am very busy with my fireworks! And Cooper is out there now! I can tell... You can't go out until Cooper is finished! He is bad! You must go back in your room, NOW! You have to keep safe while I stand here to be ready to defeat!"

"Yes sir... I just don't understand how he's bad..."

"MARTA!" Panda King exclaimed. "The information is classified! Lets put it this way, he has taken over Raleigh, Muggshot, Mz. Ruby! The Coopers are evil! Look, I'm the one who raised you, you must obey me."

Marta frowned as she walked to her room.

Sly saw one bright flash and blinked his eyes. He gained normal vision as he met eyes with Marta's.

"Sly! Are you okay? Please respond."

Sly closed his eyes. "Ugh, my head..."

"Sly!" Marta shrieked as she hugged Sly. "I'm so sorry... are you okay?"

He opened his eyes again, and exhaled softly.

Marta looked into Sly's eyes.

"What did you see?"

Sly looked at her. "Marta, how long did you stay with Panda King?"

Marta's eyes became bigger, and then sad.

"I don't know... years maybe? Why?"

"I... saw you... with him..." said Sly.

Then he thought to himself. "I just don't know why he never told me about you, even when he joined the gang..."

Marta was silent.

"Let's just go to sleep... and the next time you play music in here, please make it happy..."

"Okay... I'm sorry Sly."

He smirked. "Its okay. Besides, your music and singing is just outstanding. You my friend are very talented in many words that can not explain!"

Marta smiled, very speechless, happy, and started blushing. That was the most greatly she's ever been complimented.

Sly smiled at Marta and yawned.

"Have a good night." he said.

Sly gets up and walks away to lay down.

"Thanks Sly... you too."

* * *

***The song mentioned in the chapter is called "My Heart Is Broken" by Evanescence. Thank you for reading so far! More is up next! Enjoy.***


	10. Confused

**Chapter Ten: Confused...**

Marta happily walks into her room. "Sly... he is just... perfect! No one complimented me like that!"

The young raccoon lied on her bed, smiling.

"Wow... I can get used to being stuck with him. Now... about what he seen... confuses me..."

Marta couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he mentioned The Panda King, and she couldn't stop asking herself questions.

"How did they know about each other? How did this all happen? Why did they keep telling me that the Cooper Clan was bad?! What did The Coopers do?! No one tells me! Do people just hate me? My parents left me so they didn't care who I ended up with!"

Marta became more and more frustrated.

"Why has this happened to me? Why is it just me that was taught to hate the Coopers?! The people who wrote all the books I read sure didn't mention anything about the 'Evil Coopers'! I was taken by a villager in China after the Panda King was defeated. She was really nice, but never let me outside for it was always so cold. Then the Klaww Gang took me, I was left with some small bird dude. They all treated me like crap. This woman named Neyla however, was nice to me. She told me that Sly Cooper is causing more trouble, and he's after me. That had to be a lie because Sly and I never knew each other. Well I knew him. Anyway, she then gave me to the Paradox family. Big family, and Cyrille was the oldest child. I stayed with the family until Cyrille started with that whole 'Hate Cooper' crap. Then I stayed in his STUPID blimp! And now here I am, LOST YET AGAIN! So I still don't know what's up with all of this... they all tried to keep me from Sly Cooper. Why? Why did Neyla tell me Sly was after me? Is it just because im a raccoon like him? I don't understand. It's just too much questions, too much I don't know..."

Marta yawned.

"This all made me tired. I just had to let it out..."

She rubbed her eyes and slept all night long.

* * *

Sly and Marta remained in Egypt, hoping their plan would work. Unfortunately, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Sly wasn't so positive anymore that his plan was going to work. Eventually, Sly and Marta started to face that they were stuck in Ancient Egypt, forever.

* * *

***Weird, Marta's life has always revolved around Sly... Sly lost hope by now, seven months after his day leaving Paris. Will Sly forget about Carmelita and start a new life with Marta? Will Marta fall for him, or will Sly fall for her? Let's check up on the fox, see how's she's doing with forgetting Cooper and moving on.***


	11. The Date

**Chapter Eleven: The Date**

It's four o'clock in the afternoon and one beautiful Fox looks at herself in her mirror.

"Maybe I should change my makeup in a certain way. Maybe change the color? And what about an outfit? A pretty outfit for sure."

Carmelita looks over to the bag of clothes that Rachel bought for her almost a week ago. She raised one eyebrow as she looked in the bag.

"No, too baggy. No, too girly... No, too uh... I don't have an idea what kind of shirt that is. And I really don't want to wear a dress."

Carmelita searched more into the bag.

"Oh, this one looks nice!"

She pulled out a navy blue, one sleeved shirt out of the bag. When Carmelita put it on, it fit her perfectly. The shirt was also a "V" neck and it ended just above her hips. It had a wavy design on the one sleeve and the tip of the bottom part of the shirt.

"Well, this nice shirt needs to look good with my... pants... Maybe something better..."

Carmelita continues to look through the bag, when she pulls out an extremely short pink skirt.

"Rachel! What is this! Gross!"

The stressed fox spots another skirt. She pulls it out of the bag and smiles. "This one looks decent!"

The skirt was black and went down to her knees. It was tight but Carmelita liked it. She looks back in the mirror. "Looks nice but... its missing something..."

Carmelita glances at her jewelry box and reaches over to open it. Inside it held a breath-taking necklace Sly "bought" for her one day. The necklace had a big dazzling blue sapphire in the middle that was outlined with tiny sparkling diamonds. Carmelita smiled, but that quickly faded away.

"I remember when he got this for me..."

Carmelita put the necklace around her neck, holding the sapphire on her chest.

"You'll always be in my heart Cooper..."

Carmelita put on black shiny heels on, looked at herself in the mirror one more time and left her house.

Carmelita arrived at the park just on time. The sun was shining through the trees as Carmelita walked towards the park bench. Birds were chirping and flowers were flowing with the wind. The wind blew in the beautiful Miss Fox's face, which made her calmly close her eyes and inhale. The sight was amazing.

Carmelita spotted the bench where she saw Paxton for the first time. She didn't see him, and it was almost five o'clock. She decided to sit down, wait, and admire the view.

The more minutes that went by, the more anxious Carmelita felt.

"There you are!" The wolf suddenly appeared. "I'm sorry I was a little late but-" Carmelita looked up at Paxton and he immediately stopped his sentence. Carmelita stood up and smiled. "How do I look?"

Paxton was speechless. He opened his mouth as his eyes explored the sight of her face, necklace, and body.

"Her curve... wow and her legs... SEXY!" thought Paxton. His eyes looked back up at her face, her hair, and eventually met her eyes. "Her beautiful gleaming eyes. They glare in the sun... so.."

Carmelita raised one eyebrow, still smiling.

"Well?"

"Stunning... amazingly stunning. You look so beautiful this evening Miss Fox. Would you like to walk around the park with me and talk?"

Carmelita blushed, giggled a little and studied Paxton as well.

He was wearing normal clean clothes on but not bad. His shirt was white, enhancing his dark brown fur. "Wow how nice! And he had very broad shoulders. Very handsome!" Paxton was wearing jeans as well. He wasnt super tall but taller than Carmelita.

"His glasses too... he looks really hot with them! The way he did his hair on his head, wow! Dreamy..."

Carmelita replied, "Yes Paxton, I'd love too"

Paxton smiled as he held out his hand for her to grab it. They were walking down the pathway in the park holding hands as they spoke.

Paxton glanced over at Carmelita, amazed at her beauty.

"So Carmelita, how have you been lately?"

Carmelita looked at Paxton. "Pretty good. No work but to watch the criminals in jail! Police are so bored that they started arresting people for Jay walking again!"

Paxton chuckled.

"So how about you Paxton?"

The wolf smiled. "There's always something new to find and I love it! My friend, Marcus, works with me. He brings back interesting things from his vacations and we study them. He should be back any day now..."

"That's nice! Seems more fun than-"

Paxton interrupted Carmelita with such enthusiasm.

"Man I love my job! Maybe you should come with me sometime when I need to travel to different countries, maybe dig things out with me!"

Carmelita replied, "Woah Paxton, that seems really cool. So is this whole date going to be located here in the park?"

"Well, I was planning on us walking back to my car so I can drive you to my favorite restaurant."

Carmelita's face brightened up.

"Wow how thoughtful of you Paxton!" "Anytime beautiful, anytime."

The couple arrived at a black and shiny Audi A6. Paxton opened the passenger door with a smirk on his face. "Ladies first."

Carmelita smiled as she walked towards the car. "Such a gentleman."

They arrive at the Nicolette's restaurant and got a seat as soon as they came in. It was a very fancy restaurant, you can tell by the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, detailed paintings covered the walls, violins were playing, and everyone dressed formal.

Carmelita had a slight panic moment. "Oh my gosh this place is so pretty, but it looks so expensive! I don't know if I-"

Paxton laughed, interrupting Carmelita. "It's fine dear, im paying for everything. No worries."

Carmelita took a deep breath and smiled as she glanced at Paxton.

"Wow." Carmelita thought. "He is such a gentleman! He impresses me every time! This man has a good head on his shoulders as well."

Paxton went over to the host of the restaurant. "A table for two please."

The man looked at Paxton and Carmelita.

"Inside or outside?"

Carmelita wanted to be inside but Paxton, without asking her, chose...

"Outside please."

"Fine. This way please." The two followed the man outside.

"Your waiter will be right with you. Have a lovely evening."

Hours passed as the couple enjoyed their food. They watched the sunset together and saw the stars come out, all at the restaurant. They talked for a while although most of the talk was Paxton and his job.

"Oh and this one time we also found this weird invention that-"

Carmelita interrupted. "That's wonderful Paxton. Can we please talk about-"

"Oh! Last month my friend found this strange, I think it was a spoon but from the 1700's! Pretty cool huh?!"

Carmelita sighed as she rolls her eyes. "Yeah... cool."

Another hour went by, Paxton was still talking about his job.

"You must really like your job, don't you?"

Paxton smiled as he spoke with enthusiasm.

"Of coarse! I love it so much, sometimes more than my life!"

Carmelita thought to herself. "He was so perfect but now all he's talking about his job nonstop! It's been hours! He won't even let me talk. Ugh I need to end this date... he's still decent but... I don't know if it's something I WANT to live with. Relax Carms... this is just the first date. Besides he still seems nice."

Carmelita looked at Paxton. "Hey, Paxton I was thinking we could-"

Paxton's watch beeps and he gasps. "Oh wow its late!"

"Yeah so maybe can I see your house?"

Paxton quickly replied, "I'm sorry Carmelita, I have to go. I need to study more of my artifacts!"

Paxton pulled out his wallet and placed the money on the table to pay for the food.

"Oh okay... can you drop me off at my house?"

Paxton stood up from the table. "Yeah, of course."

He rushed to his car, Carmelita quickly following him.

Carmelita tells Paxton her address. They talk to each other during the ride.

"I really enjoyed tonight, didn't you Carmelita?"

"Yeah... sure."

Paxton smiled. "You can't come to my house tonight, i'll be busy. You can come over tomorrow though. I'm free then!"

Carmelita pondered for a while. "I don't know, I don't want him talking about his job all day long... I guess I'll go see him tomorrow but if he mentions his job again, I'm done."

"So beautiful, what will it be? Will you go?"

"Sure, but we should talk about different things this time."

"Sounds like a deal!"

Paxton arrives at Carmelita's house.

"Wow, what a nice house. Here's my address." The address was written on a piece of paper. "I'll see you tomorrow beautiful." Carmelita got out of the car. She was about to thank Paxton but quickly drove off.

Carmelita spoke to herself with a disappointed tone. "Wow... just wow."

* * *

***Not too impressed but gives him another chance. Next chapter is about his house. It was based on my Uncle's house, It's really beautiful! Since Paxton is an archeologist, he gets a lot of money so I had to give him a nice house. The chapters are getting longer with more descriptions so that's good, right? I hope you enjoy my first story and the following as I make improvements. Please review if you want, but now... here's the next chapter.***


	12. Problem Solved

**Chapter Twelve: Problem Solved**

The next morning Carmelita arrives at Paxton's house. She walks up and knocks on the door. The house is really big.

"Jeez how much money does this guy have? This place is huge and well designed!"

The house was painted maroon and the garden in the front was breath-taking. Flowers covered the garden area and two willow trees were planted on each side of the house. On his front lawn was a bird bath. Carmelita admired the sight and knocked again.

Paxton unlocked the door and opened it to a pretty fox in a black dress. The wolf smiled at her.

"Wow you sure dressed perfectly, yet again."

Carmelita giggled. "Thank you. May I come in?"

"Yes you may."

Carmelita entered the house and she was flabbergasted by the sight of the place. It was enormous! To her left was an office that was bigger than hers! To the right of Carmelita was a dining room, which held very expensive china as well. There were stairs next to the dining room and a hallway next to the office that led to the living room. A crystal chandelier hung right above Carmelita, and there was a huge window next to it. The walls in the office and dining room were painted dark orange.

"So..." said Paxton. You want to take a look around?"

Carmelita nodded, remaining amazed. Paxton walked down the hallway and Carmelita spotted picture frames on the right side of the hallway. They showed pictures of Paxton looking for artifacts and holding some.

They walked into the living room. Once again, very huge. The couches and chairs were made of black leather and the walls were covered in dark forest green paint. The floor was dark oak wood and a huge flat screen hung on the wall. There was an end table that was layered with more pictures of... well you know...

A coffee table sat in front of the couch that faces the TV. There was another window and you can see a pond in the back.

"So Carmelita, this is the living room, and over there is my kitchen."

Paxton pointed at the kitchen that was to the right of Carmelita. Most of the kitchen furniture was made of black marble. The cupboards were wooden but stained dark. The refrigerator was obviously made this year with its advanced technology.

"Through the kitchen is the dining room, and across the kitchen is my patio and one of my bathrooms."

The patio was astounding to Carmelita. There was only a small garden but the patio was well made, which also held a dining table.

"Do you have people come here often?"

"Yes, my mom, sister, and the rest of my extended family comes over for any occasion."

"What about your dad?"

Paxton frowned. "He died seven years ago in a mine that was held in the Australian Outback... he was murdered by a thief I was told..."

Carmelita's eyes enlarged. "Oh... I'm sorry for your loss Paxton..."

Paxton made a weak smirk. "It's fine. Now lets head upstairs!"

The two went through the hallway and went upstairs. The wall was painted dark red. The space upstairs had four doors.

"Okay, this one in the far left is the guest room. The one next to it, is my second bathroom. This one leads to my room and finally, the last room on the right holds my artifacts that I kept. The other artifacts I send to the local museum and they pay me a lot!"

"That explains the house... and car... and the flat screen TV..."

Paxton chuckled. "Let me show you around a bit.

Paxton opened the guest room and the walls were painted dark blue. The room had a twin size bed and it had a window next to it. A TV and closet were placed across from the bed.

"The door on the right of the wall leads to the bathroom. The same with my room. Lets check that out."

Paxton lead Carmelita to his room. It looked the same as the guest room except it was bigger and the walls were covered with yet again, pictures of his artifacts and him finding them.

Carmelita sneered. "Wow, you sure have a lot of photos of your artifacts."

Paxton glanced to her with a smile. "I capture every moment of my job and its artifacts. I absolutely love it! I take a picture of all the artifacts I found that day. Sometimes I feel like they are my children!"

Carmelita tries to hide a confused face. "Oh nice... let's just skip the next room and go in the living room. We can hang out there."

Paxton agreed. "Sure!"

Carmelita walks quickly to the living room and sat on the cooling leather couch.

Paxton joins her. "Would you like something to drink?"

Carmelita smiled. "I'd like some coffee if you have any."

Paxton ran to the kitchen. "Sure thing beautiful!

It was silent for a moment until Carmelita decided to start another conversation.

"You have an outstanding house Paxton! I'm very impressed!"

Paxton looked over to Carmelita. "Why tha-"

The wolf was interrupted by the sound of a door bell.

"Who else is here?"

Carmelita watches Paxton curiously walk down the hallway as she waits for her coffee. Then Carmelita hears the door open and then...

"Marcus! You finally came back from your vacation! Well come on in dude!"

Carmelita became confused. She then sees two men enter the living room, Paxton and some guy with white fur and long ears. The man was carrying a dirty book bag. He didn't look so appealing, thanks to his crooked buck teeth. Paxton glanced over to Carmelita.

"Hey Carmelita, meet my friend Marcus. He was the one I told you about yesterday. He's finally back from his vacation!"

"Wait!" Exclaimed Marcus. "'Dis here's ya gurlfrien'?!"

Carmelita was really surprised with his unexpected accent.

Paxton smiled at Carmelita. "Yes."

"Well Pax, she sure is purtty! An' I got sum' of dos' artifacts you wanted me to dig up durin' ma' trip!"

Carmelita mumbled to herself. "Oh no... here we go again..."

Paxton's face brightens up as Marcus hands over the bag. Paxton runs over to his office which is followed by his friend. Carmelita rolls her eyes as she walks into the kitchen to make herself coffee.

"I can't take this. All he cares about are his dumb artifacts! He probably just wants me to show off to others! Ugh!"

Carmelita finished making her coffee and decided to walk in the office with the others.

As she walks in with her coffee, she sees Paxton examining different objects. "Whoa... so interesting..." whispered Paxton.

"More interesting than me!" sneered Carmelita.

Paxton ignored Carmelita. "Wow! Marcus look at this one!"

Carmelita was raging. "Can we have one day together without involving your stupid pieces of garbage?!"

Paxton gave Carmelita a nasty look and gasps.

"They are not garbage!"

Carmelita crossed her arms and rolls her eyes. Paxton picked up a rock with some picture carved in it.

"Wow, this design is phenomenal!"

"Then why don't you date it?!" Carmelita exclaimed.

Marcus started laughing as Carmelita looked away. She glanced at the rock with an annoyed look. The design looked familiar to her, making the fox walk towards the rock to get a better view.

Carmelita's heart skipped a beat as she clearly saw the design. It was the same design as the blue calling card in the shape of a raccoon-head logo that Sly always left in his crime.

"It... cant... be... Can I have that?"

Paxton gave the rock to Carmelita.

"You can't keep it but you sure can look at it. Just be careful."

Carmelita stared at the rock more and more. She saw the initials under the design. It wrote, "S.C."

"Sly..." She looked away in disbelief. "Marcus, where did you get this?"

"Why, I got it fruuuum... Egypt! Y'know, da' place with dem' pyramids."

"I know what I must do..."

The fox ran to the door.

"Hey!" yelled Paxton. "What are you doing?!"

"Sorry Paxton..." Carmelita spoke in a sarcastic tone. "But this I'll take with me. Thank you, and please... NEVER talk to me again. Goodbye!"

Carmelita ended the sentence in a happy tone as she left the house. She ran to her car and quickly drove away.

Carmelita's car stooped at the hideout where the gang used to be. The fox got out of the car and ran to the building's door. All of a sudden, Carmelita takes her heel off her foot and BAM! The door is broken down.

She meets eyes with a shocked turtle's. He was behind a desk with papers all over. His face looked tired with his dark eye circles, aftershave, and worn out clothes.

"You know, you could've knocked..."

Carmelita ignored Bentley's statement and walked towards him. She placed the rock on his desk.

"Bentley, we are going to Ancient Egypt."

Bentley became confused and looked at the rock. He picked it up and as soon as Bentley saw the design, a smile grew on his face.

* * *

***Yay, they might find each other again! But... is Sly and Marta... closer than friends by now? let's find out in the next chapter! You like it? Please let me know. I have been a huge fan of Sly Cooper for years and I will never let this story remain unfinished! Thank you for reading so far, there will probably be no more than 30 more chapters and the story should be finished sometime next month (August 2013). Enjoy! :) ***


	13. Long Time No See!

**Chapter Thirteen: Long Time No See!**

"Haha did you see the look on his face! Priceless!"

Marta talks to Sly with excitement as they came back from the palace.

"And also how I slammed him on the ground with your cane! It felt so devilish, I liked it..."

Sly looked at Marta's thrilled facial expression, and smiled himself.

"Sly... thank you for teaching me that trick."

"Hey no problem! You're great at the Cooper moves anyway. Maybe it's just a raccoon thing I guess. Maybe that's why The Fiendish Five and the Klaww gang kept you from me... they didn't want two of me! Ha-ha."

"Gee, thanks Sly... Am I really that good?"

"Yeah you are! Now let's get to the time machine. The food was so good at the palace!"

Marta smirked. "I couldn't agree more Sly."

The raccoons walked towards the time machine with full stomachs and happy thoughts.

"He is just so perfect!" thought Marta. "He is clearly the most brilliant man I've came across too! So kind, so... daring. I like that. And what a body he has! Ugh just everything about him is wonderful. I love being stuck with him." Marta smiled to herself as they walked into the time machine.

"RINGTAIL!"

The two paused in their steps as they heard the female voice from afar. Sly was the quickest to turn around.

"Sly, who is that?"

Sly questionably whispered under his breath with disbelief. "Carmelita...?"

The fox ran as fast as she possibly can towards Sly.

"Does Sly know this woman? Who is she? What is going on?"

Sly and the woman collided as she wrapped her arms around Sly. The fox had tears in her eyes. "Oh God you're okay! I've been worried sick!" She released those tears on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Okay" pondered Marta. "They know each other... she must be from present day. Wait, she's a fox... Sly said his ex-girlfriend was one... she must be..."

Marta's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of the fox's fist weakly pounding on Sly's chest.

"Don't you EVER leave me again!"

The fox's statement was cut off by her own crying. "You hear me Cooper!"

Sly felt her trembling body in his arms. "Yes... I hear you..."

The two remained to hug for, what seemed like hours to Marta.

Marta rolled her eyes. "Okay enough is enough Fox!" she thought.

The jealous raccoon purposely coughed to get their attention. Carmelita glanced over to the younger raccoon and pushed Sly aside as she points her gun at Marta's face.

"Who are you and what have you done to Sly!?"

The Fox's facial expressions turned serious with a tint of anger.

"Well, aren't you annoying." sneered Marta.

The woman's face raged with anger as she growled, "Is that so? Well why don't you eat these bullets as my apology!"

Sly's eyebrows raised as his mouth dropped. "It's fine Carmelita, she's just my friend. She was in the machine with me as it crashed in this place."

Carmelita kept her place, gun still pointed at Marta. Sly walked to the side of the girls. "Carmelita, this is my friend Marta. Marta, this is my uh..." Carmelita continued Sly's sentence, "EX-girlfriend..."

Sly smirked. "Yes, my ex, Carmelita."

"Ha, no wonder Sly broke up with her." thought Marta. "She's a complete -"

"So..." Sly laughed weakly. "Did you come here alone?"

Carmelita lowered her gun, her eyes still locked on Marta's. "No, the team came with me as well. We all searched for you Sly..." She looked over to Sly. "I've been searching almost every night..."

The Fox wiped her tears off her cheeks.

Sly frowned. "Carmelita, I'm sorry... for everything..."

"Me too Sly... we'll talk later, I promise." -Sly smiled to that- "But first you need to reunite with your team. Bentley and I were looking for ANY evidence where you might be, and Murray went to boxing. We assumed that he was getting ready for what ever might happen next. Those goofs are waiting for you in the van. C'mon let's go!"

Marta smiled. "Wow, I get to finally meet the Cooper gang!"

Sly followed Carmelita, as soon as he took one step out of the machine he glanced over to Marta, smirking. "Well, are you coming or staying?"

* * *

The three walked further away from the machine. Carmelita and Sly walked beside each other while Marta walked behind the two. "Ugh I'm getting sick of her..." she thought. Aggravated, the raccoon walked faster to catch up and separate the two, pushing aside Carmelita. Sly looked at Marta and smiled.

"Ugh, does she HAVE to come with us?!"

Sly replied, "Yes Carmelita. I told her she can meet the team. Besides, she has a very special trick she can do, she might even join the team!"

Carmelita rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Marta smiled to herself as she walks closer to Sly.

Sly's eyes remained on Carmelita. He grinned as he spoke with tease. "Nice dress you have there. It's nice how you decided to dress good just for me, like always."

Carmelita looked quickly towards Sly. "Oh please! Can't I dress in whatever I please without guys like you to assume its to please them?!" Carmelita made a smirk back at Sly.

"I'm sorry Miss Fox, but you don't normally wear nice things in times like this."

Carmelita kicked her foot in the sand that flew at Sly and Marta. "You like my heels too? It's called being forced to shop with your friend!"

Sly coughed, "Lovely..."

The fox giggled as Marta rolled her eyes in disgust. "Ugh she's so annoying! I'd wish she'd stop talking to Sly. She's getting on my nerves."

"So Carmelita, how did you like my calling card design on a rock?"

Carmelita chuckled. "Well, it helped me find you, I don't know what to say in artistic ways."

"Wow how rude." thought Marta

"Oh well, at least it worked. Are we close to the van?"

"Sly, try opening your eyes in that direction!"

Carmelita pointed at the van towards Sly's right. He smiled at the fact that he was going to see his friends again.

The sun slowly started to set, and the land was covered in orange sunlight. A cold breeze eased the three after hours of outside heat. Sly took a deep breath of the calming air. "Sly's back."

* * *

***I tried to make the relationship Sly and Carmelita normally had. Seems like a little someone is jealous about that. Do you think Carmelita and Marta will get along? Thank you again for reading! I really appreciate that :) !***


	14. We Are Whole Once Again

**Chapter Fourteen: We Are Whole Once Again!**

"SLY! OH HOW I MISSED YOU BUDDY! BENTLEY, SLY'S HERE!"

Marta watches a very tall and big pink hippo, wearing a light blue shirt, a towel around his neck, a belt but no pants, a mask, goggles over his eyes, and sneakers, nearly crush Sly to death. The hippo picks Sly up, still hugging him, and squeezes him tighter.

Carmelita smirked. "Okay big guy, let him go before you kill him."

The hippo drops Sly, hurting him yet again. "Oof!"

"Aw, that hippo is super cute!" thought Marta.

A turtle comes out of the van, seeing Carmelita try to help Sly back up. He was in a wheelchair with a pith helmet on, large glasses, light brown gloves, bulletproof vest, and a grey button-up shirt underneath his vest. The turtle claps his hand together as he spoke. "Well, the team is finally whole again! Sly, didn't I tell you to get off the machine before you get lost in time! Now look! Seven months, gone!"

A giggle escaped from Marta's mouth, which made everyone look at her. "What?"

"Ugh." Carmelita muttered.

Bentley's eyes remained on Marta. "Sly... can you please explain who sh-"

"Bentley... Murray... I'd like you to meet Marta Kant. She's my friend, and ca-"

"FRIEND?!" Bentley shrieked. "Sly! You have no idea what you've done! Being friends with someone from the past! That can change the future dramatically!"

Bentley placed his hands upon his face, becoming even more stressed. Marta thought of his behavior. "Wow he seems to worry a lot..."

"Relax Bentley, I was going to say that she came w-"

"HI MARTA! I'm The Murray! You can just call me Murray though if you wanna..."

Marta giggled. "Well hello Murray."

"I like your hair Marta. It's short and straight, it looks nice on you! And also your tail looks an awful lot like Sly's..."

Sly smacks his hand against his forehead. "That's because we are the same type of animal, Murray. Now as I was saying, she was on the time machine with me as the machine sent us here."

Bentley's face turned confused and looked over to Marta. "So, Le Paradox took you? What happened?"

"It's a really... REALLY... long story. Maybe me or Sly could tell you later if... I can stay."

"We definitely will keep you and get you out of this whole mess, that's for sure. But we need to bring you back to your parents when we get to present day."

Marta looked down, feeling an ache in her chest.

"Uh, Bentley..." Sly joined. "Her parents gave her away... she doesn't have any."

Everyone but Marta and Sly were feeling slightly bad for the young raccoon. "Oh, I'm sorry Marta. I didn't know..."

She bit her lip and looked back at Bentley. "It's fine. I-I was thinking of... m-maybe joining... the Cooper gang..."

Carmelita raised her eyebrow, placing one hand on her hip. Bentley and Murray on the other hand...

The hippo jumped up and down, clapping his hands excitedly. "That would be so cool! There's always room for more!" He suddenly stopped his behavior, glancing at Sly and Bentley. "Is that right?"

The turtle pondered out loud, as always. "That seems adequate... yes... Well do you have any unique tricks to join the team?"

Sly answered the question. "In fact she does Bentley! She can do the Cooper tricks almost perfectly!"

"But I thought you said only a Cooper masters those moves... and why did you-"

"No, most of the things I didn't teach her. Again, long story. And she can do an amazing thing with instruments! You won't believe it until you see it!"

Bentley shook his head and smirked. "Fascinating! I'd love to observe this, but not tonight. It's getting dark, and trust me... two hours of sleep each day for seven months make you lose your mind. Now I can finally ease my nerves knowing Sly... SLY IS BACK! YES!"

The turtle threw his hands in the air.

Carmelita agreed. "I feel you Bentley... I feel you." The fox looked over to Sly. "Where have you two been sleeping in Egypt for the past seven months?"

"The machine. It really helps with the occasional sandstorms. Maybe we could all rest there tonight and leave the following morning."

"Sounds like a plan!" Bentley smiled.

Everyone arrives to the broken time machine with the van. Murray drove there with Sly's directions. Sly sat in the passenger seat while Bentley (passed out in less than three minutes of the ride), Carmelita, and Marta sat in the back.

"Why do I have to sit with her? Whatever who cares... I get to stay with the gang... well hopefully. This will be great! The four of us working as a team to travel and be the thieves we are! I could only imagine!" Marta smiled in her own thoughts.

Everyone but Bentley evacuated the van. Murray picked up the sleeping turtle as he walked with everyone towards the time machine. "Murray, there's another room past the mini kitchen that you and Bentley can rest in. I'll find a place for Carmelita and I."

The pink hippo nodded as he carried Bentley to the room. Marta glanced at Carmelita and Sly. "I'm kinda tired myself... I'll go in my room." She smiled and bent over to hug Sly. Her arms wrapped around his small waist and her head reached only up to Sly's shoulders. "Thank you Sly... for everything."

He placed his hands on her back. Sly glanced over to Carmelita, seeing discomfort on her face.

Marta looked at Sly's eyes. He glanced at her and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Those eyes..." thought Sly. "Her eyes look familiar... I can't figure out how..."

She smiled and let go of him. Sly continued to look at her until she walked in her room. "Weird..."

Sly was lost in thought until he was interrupted with Carmelita's hand meeting with his. "Sly, now it's time we talk..."

A relieved smile appeared on Sly's face. "Carmelita, I am so sorry... with many things..."

"Me too..."

"Look, especially with the amnesia thing... I knew you would find out sometime. It's just that... I could never stay apart from you. Please understand... I didn't mean for it to hurt you... It's just that-"

"I kinda felt like you faked it anyway. I knew you did but I didn't care... I lied to myself as well. I've seen you take interest in valuable things. I thought the amnesia incident might have changed you... But who am I kidding... you are who you are. I can't change you. I just don't know how to live with that... I'm not saying that I don't want to but-"

Sly smiled, held Carmelita in his arms, and met his lips with hers. The two remained for a couple of seconds, making Carmelita put her arms around his neck. They eventually finished the loving kiss and their foreheads leaned against each other. "I love you Sly..."

"I love you too, always have and always will. We WILL make this work, no worries mon bel amour, no worries my beautiful love."

* * *

***Aw, cute ;) The secret will be coming soon. I just thought it might be cool so I thought I could share my idea with others. I hope you like it! The next chapter is important! Enjoy.***


	15. Something's Missing!

**Chapter Fifteen: Something's Missing!**

***WARNING: Contains some violence but you'll survive :D***

The blazing hot morning followed the cold night. Sly woke up to the bright sun hitting his eyes. All he hears is silence, everyone is sound asleep. The raccoon sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Wow what a day that was."

Sly covered his mouth as he yawns. He takes a deep breath of the warm air and stretches his arms above him. His arms were placed on his lap and he glances over to a slumbering fox laying next to him. "Gosh she is so beautiful when she sleeps. I could never get sick of it."

The raccoon stood up and slowly entered the room that held Murray and Bentley. Bentley's wheelchair remained on the ground next to a mini bed where Bentley was found. Murray was snoozing on the ground, curled up in a ball.

"They are still very exhausted. I can't believe Bentley would sacrifice so much of his sleep FOR MONTHS just to find out how to find me. These guys are beyond awesome." Sly smiled as he left the room.

Suddenly, Sly felt a slight ache in his right hand, which made him pause in his steps. He grabbed his hand and the ache slowly went away. "Weird..."

Sly looked up and saw Marta standing in her room, facing her wall. Curious, he walks in and joins her. "Uh, you're not possessed, are you?"

Marta giggles as she turns to see Sly. "No, just looking at these music sheets. I want to choose which one is good enough to join the team. I hope you guys like it... I don't want to be rejected from being part of the team. I have no where else to go Sly... and I feel like I belong with you guys."

"Hey don't beat yourself up, you'll be great! Just make it a happy or exciting song please. Plus, Murray and I already accepted you in the gang. You just need to prove to Bentley that you can be helpful. You already have with me."

Sly smiled when he finished his sentence. Marta looked up at Sly and her face turned brighter. "Thank you Sly!"

Sly saw Marta look behind him. "Good Morning Murray!"

Murray looked at Marta, but had a worried look. "Hi Marta... Sly..."

Sly turned around and studied Murray's face.

"What's up Murray? You don't look so satisfied."

"Sly, where's the bathroom? I can't find it in here."

The raccoon coughed. "Well I uh... just normally went outside..."

"Thanks pal!"

The pink hippo rushed to the bright sandy outdoors. Carmelita abruptly woke up to his loud steps.

"Carmelita!" Sly smiled. "It's about time you've woken up. You look lovely this morning!"

Carmelita sneered. "Yeah right, don't mess with me Sly. I'm not in the mood."

Sly raised one of his eyebrows and teasingly grinned. "Not a morning person, huh?"

"NOT NOW RINGTAIL!"

Sly looked down, still smirking. "Ouch..."

Marta joined the conversation. "Why do you have to be so rude to him! All he was doing was saying good morning. Heck, he even complimented you!" Marta continued, but mumbled. "No wonder he broke up with you..."

Carmelita walked slowly in Marta's room, her words full of raging anger as she gritted her teeth. "What did you say?"

Marta crossed her arms. "You heard me, EX GIRLFRIEND!"

Sly's eyes widened and glanced at Carmelita. "Oh crap..."

Carmelita ran in front of Marta and got in her face.

"You listen here rat! Get out of our business! And just so you know, I broke up with Sly A LONG TIME AGO! NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS YOU FILFY-"

"Uh girls? Let's try to get along oka-"

"Ooh such 'harsh' words." Marta replied to the fox, ignoring Sly. "And what was the issue in the relationship? He gave you dark chocolates instead of flowers? Was he calling you beautiful everyday? Ugh, terrible I agree."

Sly turned to the raccoon. "Uh, Marta... that's not really necessa-"

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU STUPID PATHETIC RINGTAIL! I WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Sly opened his mouth with shock as he thought to himself. "Okay I've seen her angry, and she's quite lovely when she's angry... but never in my life have I ever seen her this paranoid..."

"Who's the one pathetic when you're the one here acting like a stubborn mule!"

"THAT'S IT! COME HERE YOU LITTLE RUNT!"

Carmelita reached over to grab Marta's hair. Sly snapped, "COME ON DON'T GET PHYSICAL HERE! Girls, please stop... I'm just asking to get along okay?"

The two girls stopped fighting and looked at Sly. He continued speaking.

"Carmelita, Marta is my friend. Marta, yes Carmelita is my ex but please don't bring it up. Carmelita is right, it's not your business. So the two of you get along!"

The two agreed and apologized. Bentley appeared in the doorway, sitting in his wheelchair and looking tired. "Man you girls know how to wake someone up..."

Carmelita looked down, putting her hand on her other arm. Marta replied. "We're sorry Bentley...I'm sorry."

Bentley chuckled while he takes off his glasses to rub his eyes. "It's fine. I'd like to get something to eat and then see your special talent. I believe Sly with the Cooper moves, but he did say something about instruments. Is that correct?"

Marta smiled. "Yes it is. The extra stash of food is in the control room. I'll get it for you." Marta walked out of her room and disappeared in a different room. Murray quickly came in. "I heard the word food!"

Sly laughed. "Yes Murray. Marta's getting the food now. Then she'll perform music for us."

"What's so good about that?" asked Carmelita.

"You'll see. It's truly amazing how she does it."

Carmelita crossed her arms. "Oh... right."

Marta came back holding a whole bowl of food. "Who's hungry?"

Murray shrieked with happiness. "Yay! I am! Thanks Marta!"

Bentley took a bite of an apple and glanced at Marta. "So... show us what you got!"

Sly and Carmelita walked out of Marta's room and sat down next to Bentley and Murray. Marta ran into her room and came out with her oboe and music sheets. Sly saw her place the sheets on the ground and put the reed in her mouth. Exciting, fast paced music escaped the other end of the instrument as Marta's fingers rapidly moved with each note. Sly felt a falling sensation and that's when the visions and memories are born again.

Sly sees himself playing Cops n' Robbers with his dad. He was six years old at the time. His dad looked a lot of what Sly looks like now, except the father's fur was slightly darker than Sly's.

The autumn trees were covered with leaves of crispy apple red, golden-yellow, and grassy green colors. The little raccoon hid behind a tree in his front yard as he was playing as the robber. He was holding a bunch of leaves, pretending it were pieces of gold and precious gems.

He giggled, thinking his dad would never find him. His big shiny eyes peeked behind the tree and no one was found. Someone tapped him on the back and Sly slowly looked behind him and his father yelled "GOTCHA'!" Sly threw all the leaves, screamed and ran away smiling.

His father caught up with his son, grabbed him with one arm and picked him up. He used his other hand and tickled Sly. Laughter escaped Sly's mouth and his father let him go. The little raccoon ran up and hugged his fathers legs. His voice was a little squeaky. "I love you Daddy."

The older raccoon picked him up again and hugged his little raccoon. He had a low yet charming voice as he replied, "I love you too, my little thief." He placed him back down. "Wanna go for another round?" Sly smiled and started running from his Dad. His mother, who had straight long hair, was watching the two play together out the window, smiling to herself.

Marta stopped playing her instrument and everyone awoke back to their sight. Sly looked up at Marta and smiled. Bentley looked lost in his thoughts

"Marta, how did you do that? I saw... wow... You control peoples' minds?"

"Well, whatever mood of the song I play is what the person feels. They see their happiest or saddest memories or visions, depending on the mood of the song."

"Genius!" cried Bentley. "How extraordinary! Looks like we have a new member in the gang."

Carmelita smirked. "Good, another person on my list to incarcerate!"

Marta opened her mouth and smiled, ignoring Carmelita. "Oh my gosh thank you so much!"

"No... thank you Marta. Now I think we could all go back to Paris, am I right? Why don't you, Sly and Murray pack up whatever you want to keep and put it in the truck."

Murray smiled. "I'm on it Bentley! C'mon guys let's go! And that was super cool Marta!"

The three walked into Marta's room while Bentley and Carmelita remained seated.

"I'd like to keep my instruments and drawing. Oh, and my writings too!"

Murray grabbed the oboe, flute, and the guitar. "Off to the truck!"

Marta put all her paintings and writings in a chest. Sly glanced over to Marta. "You did really great back there. You deserve joining the team. As soon as we get back t

o Paris I will show you around. You need to see how beautiful it is!"

Marta looked over to Sly, having tears in her eyes. "Thank... you... so much. You are such a great friend."

A tear escaped from her one eye. "Aw come here."

Sly opened his arms wide as Marta hurried to hug him. Murray came back ready to carry more stuff. "Where's the other stuff?"

Sly replied, still attached to Marta. "In that chest on the ground." Murray bent down and picked up the chest. As he got up he looked at Sly with dismay. "Uh, Sly? Does that hurt?"

"What?"

Murray pointed at Sly's right hand.

He disconnected from Marta and looked where the hippo was pointing. Marta, Sly, and Murray stared at the hand that was slowly fading away. "My hand... it's disappearing!"

* * *

***My friend gave me some ideas in this. She has a fanfic here as well. She's new and so am I. Do you like Vampire Knight? My friend inkandblood0275 is writing about it. If you do read her story and like it, please review. She feels like no one likes it and she wants to know. Other than that, WHAT IS CAUSING SLY TO DISAPPEAR?! Only I know unless you continue to read ;) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing so far, it encourages me to write more. :)***


	16. Time Trouble

**Chapter Sixteen: Time Trouble**

"How is that happening?!" Marta shrieked.

Sly took his visible hand and waved it in the area the fading hand is.

Sly was in shock. "It's just going right through!"

He glanced over to Bentley who was talking with Carmelita and hurried towards him.

"Uh, Bentley?"

The turtle quickly turned to Sly, watching him. Sly's face was full of confusion and concern as Marta and Murray followed him. The raccoon's right arm extended in front of himself. "Can you please explain this?"

Bentley gazed at the hand, which was transparent. He yanked Sly's arm, studying the hand. Bentley was petrified as he whispered to himself, "Impossible..."

Curiously, Carmelita glanced over to see what was going on. Her eyes grew bigger as they were locked on the item slowly vanishing. "Wh-hat's going on? Sly? Wh... what happened?! Are you okay?"

Sly looked over to his love, not knowing what else to do but hesitantly shrug. Murray, still holding the chest, just stood beside Sly, not knowing what's going on.

Bentley spoke in a normal tone. "Follow me Sly..."

Everyone entered the overwhelming, hot, and sandy outdoors. They felt the sun's rays absorb in their bodies as Bentley moved his wheelchair towards the van. Carmelita walked next to Sly, being close as she possibly can. Her and Sly's heart were both beating fast. Marta and Murray looked at each other, feeling a little worried.

"What is happening to me?" thought Sly. "How is this possible? What's going on?"

Bentley entered the van and brought out a black device. It had a digital screen and a circular red button under the screen. "Lay down, right where you are."

Sly placed his back against the soft blanket of yellow sand. The turtle bent down and gripped Sly's arm again as he held the device in front of the barely transparent hand. Bentley's thumb pushed on the red button and the device produced a light in front of it. The screen showed up, "Not identified".

Bentley pointed it at Sly's face and pressed the button again.

"Not identified"...

The turtle pondered aloud. "I don't understand..."

"Bentley?" asked Marta. "What is that?"

"This is my scanner... It identifies what an object is. It also lists all it's elements as well. Unfortunately, Sly is not identified. That, I don't understand why..."

Suddenly, a high-pitched ring is heard within the van. "Dimitri..."

Bentley retrieves the green device he had to keep in contact with Dimitri. As the turtle comes out of the van, he turns on the device. Sly spots Bentley coming from behind the van as a projection shows a lizard above Bentley's hand.

"So what's wrong?"

"I went into your lab- don't ask why- and I heard..."

The lizard's sentence was cut off from the sight of Sly. "Yo! Sly ma man! What's shakin' raccoon! Long time no see bro!"

Sly smiled and replied. "Couldn't agree more Dimitri..."

"Okay." Bentley interrupted. "So continue..."

"Aw yeah, so I heard zees loud noises... annoying hecks outta me bro! So when I checked, it was the Thieving book that Sly owns! There's something happening to it."

"THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS?!" Yelled Sly. "What's happened to it THIS TIME?!"

"Well, lez just zay the actual papers are disappearing left from right. And so is the cover..."

Sly gritted his teeth after he heard the news. He quickly stood up and stomped over next to Bentley. He however, felt a slight ache in his left foot...

As Sly was about to speak, the three heard even more alarms. They sounded like sirens and red lights were flashing. Dimitri looked startled and jumped. He bent down and covered his ear holes. "Agh! Make dem stop bro! It's so very uncool!"

"Okay, check my computers on my office desk. Anything wrong with them?"

Dimitri crawled behind Bentley's desk and looked at the computer screens.

"No, nothing wrong. It just sez... uh Error... uh... files... uh... I can't read it."

Bentley slapped his hand against his face. "Just face your device at the computer screens so I can read it."

The computer stated, "ERROR: Files are being deleted." Bentley read the notification with terror in his eyes. "Incredulous..."

Bentley saw an option box underneath the notice. "View now?"

He commanded, "Dimitri! Click on the 'View now' tab." as Murray put Marta's chest in the van. The lizard glided the computer mouse and clicked on the tab. It showed Sly's history files, only now... it's blank.

"No!" cried Bentley.

Sly's heart sunk. "What's going on? Is the Cooper line being erased again? No... I can't let that happen! Not again!"

The raccoon's mind were full of thoughts and stress as Bentley disconnected with Dimitri.

"Thanks Dimitri... have fun with those alarms."

The turtle sighed as Murray stood behind him, curiously. "So Bentley, what's going on?"

"I have only one estimated guess. According to my blank files of Sly, the Thievius Racconus vanishing, and my scanner, Sly and the Cooper generations don't exist. That may explain why Sly is disappearing. I have a plan..."

Sly smiled as everyone listened to Bentley. "I'd have to admit, I missed hearing those words from you buddy."

Bentley continued. "Either something happened to 'Bob' Cooper from the Prehistoric Era and/or his future family or..."

"Or...?"

"Something happened to the Cooper thief who wrote the book and MAYBE the thief who built the Cooper vault... the thieves that made that possible..."

Sly's eyebrow raised as Bentley watched him. "That would be Slytunkhamen Cooper and his son..."

The turtle nodded with agreement. "Indeed."

"Well that's a good thing-" joined Marta. "-that we could try to find them here, since this is Ancient Egypt."

Carmelita stepped away from her as Bentley and Murray stared at her. Sly however smiled at the raccoon. "Nice thinking!"

Bentley whispered in Sly's ear, "You still haven't told me about her history or how she ended up with Le Paradox."

"Relax young turtle, patience is key..."

Bentley rolled his eyes. "Ugh you're sounding like Rioichi... and do you want to be patient now until you fully disappear?"

Sly smirked at Bentley, speaking louder so everyone can hear. "You're right Bentley. Let's get to the Cooper ruins to find out what happened, or what will. I'm not getting any younger... or older..."

* * *

***Next Chapter ( or Chapter 18) will probably mention the big secret of all... BUT... You're gonna to have to read to find out! I'd like to thank all of you for reading so far. I never knew people would like my story. Now I have over 1,000 views! That's amazing guys! It makes my day when someone reviews and ACTUALLY likes the chapter. Now I'm planning to make another Sly Cooper story after this one. Either one about Tennessee Kid Copper (because he's my favorite!), continuation of this story, or some other story (can't tell you because it'll kind of give away the ending of this story. IF YOU EXTREMELY WANT (you don't have to), you could review about what you might like as my next Cooper story. I'll try to fit that in with my school work and other hobbies. Anyway, enough of my talk... get ready for the surprise! It's up next! I hope you like it too :)***


	17. Cooper Ruins

**Chapter Seventeen: The Cooper Ruins**

Murray parked his van next to the Cooper Ruins, as Sly said. There were three big rocks, unevenly shaped like rectangles, and covered in dust and sand. They had a yellowish tint to them. Two of the rocks were laying parallel in the space between the side of a story-tall hill and the sandy ground, making a forty-five degree angle above the ground. The outer sides of the two rocks were alongside mini rocks to cover the holes. One rock was on top of the two, altogether making the shape of a lower case 'n'. There was an opening in the middle. It was within the shadow of the enormous hill. It was just a half a mile apart from the famous Nile River. A village was placed on the other side of the river. The houses weren't so tall but covered in a variety of colors, weaving decorations hung from houses and further out you see a farming area. Although, no one was out enjoying the warm weather. Some of the houses were abandoned and others were boarded shut with planks of wood. Looking back at the structure Sly calls the Cooper Ruins, on its far left shows an obelisk, covered with writings which are unknown to the gang and Inspector. Bentley, who remained in the back with the girls , made an unsure facial expression.

"Sly? Are you sure Slytunkhamen l lived here?"

"I remember my father reading the Thievius Raccoonus to me as a kid. It stated that he lived near the Nile River, lived within the three big stones, and a nearby obelisk Slytunkhamen made himself. It should say something about the Cooper family... that I don't remember. I recall the book also mentioning that he built his house underground. That way when the Nile River flooded, he could easily block the small opening. But this looks like the place! I'm just itching to get inside!"

The raccoon was hyper actively shaking with excitement in the passenger seat. Carmelita smiled to that, seeing his smirk she's always loved.

Bentley replied to Sly's behavior. "Okay but remember, we are all going down there to see what happened and if anyone's there."

Sly was the first to escape the van. Bentley, Carmelita and Marta left from back and Murray opened the car door to get out. They gathered around the stones but as soon as Sly placed his foot in the hole, Bentley found a slight problem.

"Sly, I can fit in there, but not my wheelchair. You can take me out and carry me inside... but as for Murray..."

"Don't worry guys." Murray assured. "I didn't really want to go inside anyway. I knew I was going to get worried about my van. I'll stay with her as you go in."

Sly smirked at Murray and went over to pick up Bentley. "C'mon lil' guy. Let's go!"

Sly grabbed the turtle, held him by his left arm, and dove in the opening head first. The raccoon was taken down a slippery slide of sand. Down and down they went, Sly gained adrenaline while Bentley gained fear as he covered his glasses. "WHOOOOOOOO!" yelled Sly. The slide made a dramatic curve right, which made Bentley more terrified. "AHHHHHH!"

Sly flew out and landed on a hard surface. He shook his head and stood up. The wooden roof was about four feet above his head. Sly took a look around in the house with dismay, not expecting to find the whole place ransacked. Chairs and tables were broken, handmade rugs were left as ashes, some pottery was cracked while others were shattered, and piles of fur covered in a red liquid lay on the floor everywhere. "Oh no..."

Bentley removed his hands from their spot and started hitting Sly. "YOU ALMOST GAVE MY A HEART ATTACK! WHO KNOWS WHAT WAS DOWN THERE! WE COULD'VE DIED!"

"Well, we're not dead so you'll be just fine..."

Bentley was about to scold at Sly again but then spotted a table flipped over, broken glass near it, and then slowly looked at the whole place. "Oh... my..."

"Hey you guys!" cried Marta. "What's goin' on down there? Can we come down?"

"Yeah..." replied Sly.

Sly hears laughter echoing in the tunnel he came from. It gets louder until BAM! Marta's face smacks the hard and cold floor. "Needs some improvement but so worth it!" She got up and rubbed her eyes to the same disaster. "What happened here?"

"Woooaaahhh!" the Fox yelps out. Her feet escapes the tunnel, her rest of the body following them. She shoots out and lands on her bottom, sliding a little further ahead of the three. Inspector Fox places her hand on her lower back. "Oof!"

As soon as her eyes recognized a destroyed area, she quickly stood up and pulled out her shock pistol.

Sly smiled at Carmelita. "Y'know, you look really appealing wearing a dress yet holding a gun with a serious face. Kind of takes me back to that time in India when we danced but I left with the Clockwerk wings. Boy, your face was priceless after that."

"That is no laughing matter ringtail! And I'm having the pistol out just in case the criminal is still here! This looks like an attack!"

Sly had a teasing tone to his voice. "Funny how you stick with us criminals yet didn't pull out the pistol til now. Something you might want to tell us?"

Carmelita was now only an inch away from the raccoon, grinning as her gun pointed under his chin. "Well, I never really knew if it worked or not so I couldn't test it on the ones I was stuck working with seven months ago. Maybe I should test it on you, Y'KNOW, to make sure it works!"

"Okay enough you two!" moaned Bentley. "But Carmelita is right... it looks like someone here was attacked. You may investigate Inspector..."

Carmelita stormed off to room to room. Marta walked in front of Sly and Bentley. Sly went his own way towards the table next to him. "Writing was really popular during this time. This looks like the place where Slytunkhamen wrote, judging from these papyrus paper laying around." thought Sly. "He probably didn't write the Thievius Raccoonus yet..."

He picked up a letter laying next to the chair but is written in hieroglyphics. "I don't understand..."

"Hey whatcha got there?"

Sly glanced over to Marta, walking over to give her the sheet. All of a sudden, Sly's left foot felt completely numb and he falls to the ground, making Bentley fly out of the raccoon's arm. Sly covers his face with what's left of his right arm. Marta heroically catches Bentley but watches Sly fall.

"What was that?" asked Carmelita. "I heard a..."

The Fox covers her mouth at the sight of, "SLY!"

She runs over to him and tries to help him up. "Bentley, Sly's foot and calf is transparent! It's disappearing!" Carmelita takes his left arm and wraps it around her shoulders. "Hold on to me okay?"

Sly nodded and Carmelita nervously looked at Bentley. "How long will it take him to fully disappear?! He's lost his right hand AND now losing his left leg within an hour!"

Bentley shrugged. "I-I don't kn-know... at a pace that fast... maybe overnight... the following morning..."

Carmelita gasped in terror as she held Sly tighter.

Bentley continued. "I have no idea where Slytunkhamen is... did you find anything Carmelita?"

The fox was silent, not responding to Bentley.

"Wait..." Sly said.

He remembered the night he eavesdropped on the Pharaoh's conversation... a woman dressed in black informed the "location of the thieves" to him. The Pharaoh mentioned an execution to the thieves. He remembered seeing the grown Raccoon and a little one next to him enter the palace before he left.

"I saw them... him and his son... they were entering the Palace for an execution. A woman dressed in black informed the Pharaoh this location. I remember! We need to prevent her from telling the Pharaoh!"

Bentley nodded in agreement. "Yes... now how we get outta here?"

"Oh!" Marta shouted. "I saw a ladder in one of the rooms that leads behind the obelisk!"

"Thanks Marta!" Bentley exclaimed. "Let's go! We don't have much time!"

The four came out from behind the obelisk. First came out Bentley attached on Sly's back, then followed Carmelita. They immediately saw Murray pinned down, being continuously tased by the Anubis guards at the right of the three rocks. Sly leaned on Carmelita as the three were horrified of the sight.

Two guards snuck behind Sly, Bentley and Carmelita. Marta was getting out from behind the obelisk when she was suddenly taken by one of the guards. The other guard stole Carmelita's gun from behind. "Hey!-"

"AHHHHH! SLY! AHHHHH! LET GO OF ME!"

Marta was squirming in the guard's arms as Sly quickly moved his head to Marta, becoming petrified. "MARTA!" he yelled. The guard held her by the front of the van.

Another guard went over to grab Carmelita. "Don't you dare touch me or MY RACCOON!"

The fox kicked that guard in the face, smashing him to the ground. Two more gained up on her, one grabbing each arm. She flew her legs in the air, each foot meeting with each face. Sadly, two more guards grabbed each leg, finally stopping Carmelita. The guards tied her ankles together with a rope and tied the other end to one of the rock's of the Cooper Ruins. The remaining guards tie her wrists together behind her back and seals her mouth shut with a muzzle. The guard who stole her gun points it at her.

Sly is pushed and easily lost balance. Bentley lets go of Sly's back, and landed next to his fellow raccoon. The turtle anxiously looks for his wheelchair and finds it in a guards possession. The raccoon lays his back against the tall hill, looking to Carmelita in terror. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" feared Sly. "Is Carmelita alright?! What about Murray?! What are they doing to Marta?! Oh crap...!"

The sun is starting to set as Sly sees the woman dressed black walk from the one side of the van to the other side, eventually facing him. She pulls down her hood and Sly sees large, light purple ears come out. Her blond hair now sways in the blowing wind as she takes off her glasses, laughing to herself. Her voice squeaks a little bit, giving an evil grin as she speaks, "It's time we meet again, Cooper."


	18. The 20 Year Old Untold Truth

**Chapter Eighteen: The 20 Year Old Untold Truth**

"Penelope... you do know rats like yourself are unpleasant to see by anyone any day."

"Oh shut it Sly, with your stupid jocular jokes! It won't even mean anything anymore, once you're completely gone!"

Sly looked at his left leg, only his thigh is remaining. His right hand that disappeared spread to the whole arm. The raccoon gave Penelope a nasty look. "You did this..."

The mouse chuckled. "Of course I did!"

"But, why?!"

"The Cooper line should've ended with Le Paradox stopping you! Plus, you are just plain annoying. You're the reason Bentley stayed with you, and NOT ME! Him and I could've done so much together, but YOU had to ruin it! You brainwashed him!"

Bentley joined the conversation. "Now Penelope, it's not Sl-"

"Shut up you mental turtle! Take care of him boys!"

One of the guards placed his foot on Bentley's shell, which made the turtle hide inside it. The Anubis took the spear he had in his hand and pierced the shell, making a crack down the middle.

"Okay that's enough." continued Penelope. "Now, I shall take care of the whole gang... one by one. But first, I must explain." She produced an evil smirk on her face.

"Oh no, is Bentley okay?! Ugh I am so sick of people messing with MY FAMILY, MY GANG, AND ME!" thought Sly. "I need to get rid of her... but how?"

"I enhanced the time machine to go in any part of time without using an artifact, like I did with Le Paradox's time blimp. I eventually found Sly with my new device, the 3-D Timing Projector. It shows me any person from any time I command it to locate and view. I decided to discontinue the Cooper line by somehow eliminating your ancestor. Once I found the location of your egyptian ancestor, I reached Pharaoh Le Paradox. I told him his future family was terribly affected by the Coopers! I also mentioned to the Pharaoh that Slytunkhamen and his son stole from the Palace. Ha! It seemed to work. They both got death, stopping the Cooper line. I would love to watch you disappear but I have to take care of your pathetic gang first."

Penelope turns herself to Marta. "She seems like a new one, I believe. Nice to see you again."

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" yelled Sly. "She didn't do anything to you! Let her go!"

Marta squirmed more as the mouse came closer. Penelope glanced over to Sly. "But don't you remember? I told you I was going to finish the Coopers!"

Marta paused.

Sly rolled his eyes. "You're not as smart as I thought you were. Just because she's a raccoon doesn't mean she's a Cooper."

"Is that so?"

Penelope looked back at Marta. "Isabella Cooper... I've heard so much about you. You have such a pretty name... too bad your parents didn't get to see your pretty face as well. Well, your father didn't."

Sly raised his one eyebrow, having a confused tone in his voice. "What?"

Penelope pulled out a small and skinny object from her pocket. It was about as long as her hand. She dropped it in front of the van but unusually stopped in midair. A straight light from each side of the device extended from the back to the front of the van. The line of thick, colored light made many more above it, making a rectangle of light. That expanded until it made a full square full of light.

"This is my 3-D Timing device. Let this baby do all the explaining. Go back 20 years ago, viewing Sly Cooper."

The projection showed a little raccoon bouncing on the father raccoon's knee. Carmelita, Sly, and Marta watched the screen in curiosity. In the father's hand held the Thievius Raccoonus.

"This was when my father was going to pass the book onto me..." remarked Sly.

"Precisely... but did you know what your mother was doing at the time?"

"No...?"

"Show the mother!" commanded Penelope.

The projection viewed a female raccoon located inside the bathroom of the same house. "She seems to be holding something, right? Let's look closer into it, shall we?"

The raccoon was holding up a flat, white and rectangular item that seemed to have a plus on the very left. There were two more on the end table next to the sink. They were both identical to the one Sly's mom is holding. She had tears in her eyes, having the biggest smile Sly has ever seen.

"Pregnancy test... tests..." Sly looked over to Marta, well... apparently Isabella, in shock and back to the projection.

"Correct again Sly! She didn't tell your father, she wanted it to be a surprise to her 'precious' family. Unfortunately..."

Everyone heard a loud bang in the backround. Sly jumped the noise, shaking as he whispered to himself. "No..."

The mother jumped as well, holding onto her shirt as she dropped the pregnancy test. Her eyes filled with fear and a terrified gasp comes from her mouth. "Sly..."

The woman hears chairs, tables, and glass being destroyed. The sounds went away after hearing paper being ripped.

The woman escapes the bathroom, only finding her spouse lying on the living room floor, eyes wide open with no motion detected. The wife covers her mouth in saddening shock as she shed a tear. All of a sudden, a big hand punches the woman to the ground from behind. Sly, watching this terrible incident, covered his ears and closed his eyes. "Stop it please..."

Penelope replied, "But you'll miss a good part!" The mouse snickers and looks back at the projection.

Carmelita worriedly looked at Sly, seeing tears drop from his eyes as he chatters his teeth. Carmelita stood up but wasn't able to move. She feels something forcefully poke in her ribs, and immediately turning around to growl at the guard. He stepped away but still pointed the shock pistol at her.

A big furious panda stood beside the woman as she turned to see him. He picks her by the shirt as he holds his other enormous hand up in the air. The raccoon looked at the hand in terror as it produces fire. "Wait! Don't hurt me please!"

There was a long pause after the woman bit her lip. "I'm pregnant... please don't kill the baby!" Sly and Carmelita looked back at the projection.

Panda King's face dropped but quickly dragged her out the house by the hair. The woman kept screaming until the panda pinned her to the outside grass. "Silence or you will perish!"

Penelope ordered, "Nine months later, right after Isabella is born!"

The projection showed the mother happily holding her baby girl. "I'll name you Isabella Cooper. No matter what happens, i'll be with you. No matter what... the chances... are..."

Isabella looked depressed as she watched the projection. "Mom..."

Sly looked over to Isabella. "I have... a sister..."

It was dark out and the mother looked more pale than normal. She looked sick and extremely tired. "I l-love y-ou... baby g-girl... I'll b-be w-watching... you..."

The mother closed her eyes as she softly exhaled her last breath...

The baby started crying, being carefully taken by the Panda King. "I shall name you Marta Kant. You must be unaware of your abilities." He left the mother in the cold and breezy China blizzard. Panda King carried the baby raccoon to his own pagota, barely seeing it from the amount of falling snow.

"So eventually..." stated Penelope. "The baby of the Cooper family was raised by the Panda King, what a man. I remember working with him and you guys in China... ugh. Anyways, after Panda King was defeated 10 years later, a random villager kept her until two years later. The Klaww Gang somehow found out about the Coopers, and there was one, unknown of her actual family name, located in China. They kidnapped her for the same reason, not wanting her to know her capable abilities. Eventually, Sly caught up with them, Neyla learned about Isabella and sent her away to the Le Paradox family. Cyrille, the man I worked with, just recentley broke out of jail at that time and him and I kept in touch ever since. He was given Isabella, and told me all about her. She is a very interesting girl i'll have to admit. Story time is over now. I just wanted you Sly, to see what you had but never knew until now, while you are slowly disappearing!"

Sly looked down, and then met eyes with his sister's. She had the same facial expression as Sly, shocked.

Penelope went inside the van, Sly's eyes still locked to Isabella's. The mouse quickly steps out with Sly's cane in her hand. She walks closer towards Sly, making the smirk more devilish by the second. Sly looked at Penelope, eyes getting bigger, filling with terror.

"This cane might come in handy before it disappears with the rest of you revolting Coopers!"

Penelope held her hand in the air and snapped her finger. "Take care of him boys! And take care of the other leftovers!"

Next thing you know, Sly was picked up high by the throat. He tried hitting against the fist clutching his neck with his only hand as he kicks in the air. He slowly loses his breath and his sight gets blurry. Sly can see his heartbeat in his eyes as he was thrown.

His head thrashed against the rough and large rock Carmelita was only inches away from. Sly immediately shuts his eyes and shows no movement.

Carmelita's eyes grew with extreme dismay, tries to yell out but no words could escape with her snout being forcefully shut. The fox fell on her knees, staring at the.

Isabella cries out, "SLY!", still being locked inside the guard's arms.

"Take care of the LAST remaining Cooper, NOW!"

* * *

***Woah... huge, right? Well you know the secret, everything is explained... except... IS SLY OKAY?! How about Bentley, Murray, Carmelita... or Isabella! What will happen to her?! Only one way to find out, read the next chapter. Enjoy!***


	19. The Rat Trap

**Chapter Nineteen: The Rat Trap**

For a second, Isabella felt fear to those words. But then... she felt anger. Hatred towards those who killed her parents, those who lied to her for so long. "My whole life built on... LIES!" Isabella raged to herself. "My parents did not leave me, they were murdered! The murderers don't want me to use my Cooper abilities? Ha! Watch me..."

Penelope turned to the little raccoon, mischievously grinning as she sees her helplessly held by the guard. He had both of his arms wrapped around her whole body, including her arms. Isabella couldn't move in the tight grip, but her legs were free.

Isabella smirked as well as she kicked the guard's leg back, making him fall forward. He still clutched onto the raccoon but failed to hold on much longer when she dug her teeth inside his arms. Isabella crawled out of the Anubis's arms and dashed inside the van.

Penelope gritted her teeth. "Get her you fools!"

Isabella's heart raced by each second, feeling the pulse in her head as her whole body fills with stress. "What do I do know?" she thought. "I don't have a plan! I need one quickly... think Mar- uh... Isabella. Think..."

Suddenly the van gets hit as the terrified raccoon gets moved with the van. Isabella yelped in terror as she falls in the back. She lies on the bottom and her ears detect voices from the outside. The guards were growling as they collided with the van again, almost tipping over the van. "I need to think of something! I can't stay in here and I can't leave everyone behind."

The van was pushed again making a flute case fly straight at Isabella head. "UGH! IDIOTS!"

The raccoon covered her bruised forehead as she glances over to what hit her. She stared at the case and then smiles. "An idea hit me!"

The raccoon, without delay opened the case and put three silver and shiny pieces together, making a flute. The van was forcefully tipped over, making a loud thud. A dent was caused, which made the guards laugh. Isabella, full of energy, punched her way out the back.

She glides in the air as she lands by doing a somersault. To finish her minor trick, she jumps in the air and backflips, landing on her feet. "Woah that felt cool!"

The sun has set as Carmelita watches the little raccoon in amazement. "She really is a Cooper..."

Isabella turns around at the guards attacking the van. "Hey! Morons!" she shouts.

Their heads turned to her.

"Ha-ha funny how they respond to that..." Isabella chuckled to herself. "Now! It looks like it's past your bedtime! Man you guys look stressed, trying to destroy a van that did absolutely nothing to you. Maybe you need a little help to go to sleep!"

The guards growled at her as the Cooper ran towards the van, only to jump on top of the side. She saw Carmelita look at her, plugging her ears as a smile started to grow on her face. Isabella smiled back. "She's not as bad as I though she is... anyway, let's start some entertainment!"

Isabella blew into the hole of the flute, making a calming low tune. She started to gently press down on the circular keys, making more than just noise. She was now combining calming low notes to make a song.

The guards froze, staring at space, slowly closing their eyes. They tried to fight their Isabella blew into the hole of the flute, making a calming low tune. She started to gently press down on the circular keys, making more than just noise. She was now combining calming low notes to make a song. The guards froze, staring at space, slowly closing their eyes. They tried to fight their eyes open, but failed. The dogs dropped the ground, making Penelope furious.

She yawned, tries to scold. "You... lazy guards." She interrupted herself with another yawn. "Stop... her..."

Penelope tried to get to walk over to Isabella herself, but simply fell to the ground, dropping Sly's cane.

The guard who was pointing the shock pistol at Carmelita drifted away in sleep. Carmelita was too surprised with what she saw, that she didn't even notice the guard went to sleep. Even the guards that tased Murray continuously were stuck in their own dreams. Isabella looked around, and then focused on the backstabbing mouse.

She jumped off the van and faced Penelope. Finally, Isabella stopped blowing into her flute, making Penelope peek her eyes open. The raccoon snatched the golden cane from the ground located near the mouse. "Here we go... And that's how you play the lullaby."

Penelope mumbles groggily to Isabella. "The Coopers will be gone forever once you disappear. There's nothing you can do! I have proven the Coopers that they are nothing but scrawny rats dressed up in STUPID costumes and holds a cane, like you are now. STUPID COOPER!"

Isabella gives Penelope a nasty look as she replied. "If you mess with my family, you mess with me. THAT, is not very intelligent of you. The Coopers are and always will remain Master Thieves, and I'm proud to be one myself."

The raccoon collects all her anger that she feels, the anger from years of lies, the years of being stolen, being lost, not having parents because of murder... Twenty years...

Isabella places her flute on the ground and holds the cane tighter. To release all her anger and hatred, she picks up slumbering Penelope with the cane and slams her to the ground, instantly killing the mouse.

* * *

***Sorry it's a little short. Looks like Isabella went through a lot of anger to do such a harsh thing to the mouse.. I hope you like the story so far! :) Carmelita and Isabella's relationship might change... but what about Sly and Carmelita's relationship? Will there even be a relationship? Find out in the next chapter!***


	20. A Rude Awakening

**Chapter Twenty: A Rude Awakening**

Penelope just lied there, cold on the sandy bed. Carmelita was watching the whole thing, what Isabella did was a little too extreme. The Fox was speechless, her eyes in shock as she saw the raccoon take the life out of Penelope. Isabella was shaking as she turned over to Carmelita.

"I don't know what came over me..."

Isabella paced over to her and cut the rope tied around Carmelita's wrists with the cane. The cane met with the rope around Carmelita's ankles and the raccoon freed her mouth. "I feel so bad for doing that... in a way..."

"Don't worry." Carmelita assured. "Check on Bentley and Murray..."

Isabella nodded as she ran towards the cracked turtle shell. Her eye peeked through the hole where Bentley's head goes out.

"Hey little buddy... you alive in there?".

She hears nothing, making her shake the shell.

"Agh my head! Stop! I'm waking up okay?"

Isabella carefully placed Bentley on the ground, having both her eyebrows raised. The turtle's legs found its way out the shell and his head peeked out the other side with broken glasses on his face. He looked up at the raccoon.

"Can you please get that wheelchair for me?"

As Isabella reached for the wheelchair, Bentley spoke again. "Was it just a dream?"

She glanced at the turtle with confused eyes. "What?"

"Penelope... she showed the past of you right? How you were a Cooper! I saw the whole thing! Is that true?"

Isabella smirked, blushing a little. "Yeah... It actually happened."

Bentley smiled as well. "Wow! How extraordinary! Sly must be excited to have some his family left! Wait... I recall seeing him being thrown! Where is he?! Is he okay?! And what about Penelope?!"

The raccoon frowned. "Uh... Penelope is... let's just say..." Isabella paused for a moment. "How should I say it..."

"Is that... her?"

Bentley pointed at the direction near the van. He slowly pushed the wheels on the wheelchair, getting closer to the mouse. He felt his heart ache at the sight.

"What... what happened to her?!"

"I-I'm s-sorry Bentley..."

The turtle went over to pick up the lifeless hand. He held it tight, close to his heart. "It looked like her bones were crushed... She was crushed. It was probably easy to do, since she was smaller than me... I can't see her like this... I can't. I can't lose her, no matter what she's done..."

Bentley frowned as he felt no pulse. He quickly dropped her hand and carried on with his statement.

"We need to go back in time to stop her from consulting with the Pharaoh. Maybe somehow keep her from messing with the Cooper History WITHOUT killing her!"

Bentley had a serious face whilst looking at Isabella. "In this gang, we do not kill! We steal, maybe knock out bad dudes if necessary but not kill."

Isabella nodded. "I'm sorry..."

"We're going to change the future anyway... where's Murray?"

"Same place where we found him..."

Bentley moved his wheelchair towards the pink hippo. He sadly glanced to Penelope, but continued to move.

The wheels of the wheelchair glided through the soft sand as Isabella followed.

The sky grew darker, and the breeze grew colder. The sky is full of glistening stars that was keeping the full bright moon company. The sand looked gray and dull with no sunlight hitting it. The village houses were barely seen as the area seemed very quiet.

Bentley approached Murray, placing his hands on the hippo's arm as the turtle shakes it. He tries to awaken the hippo from deep sleep. He turns to Isabella, grinning.

"You did well putting everyone to sleep. I watched you, until I fell asleep myself! Your talent is amazing! Although music won't wake this big guy up. I know what will though."

Bentley shook Murray again. "Murray! Wake up!"

The hippo turned to his side, his back facing the two. Murray itched his leg, yawned, and fell back asleep.

"Murray! Wake up now!"

Murray mumbled lazily. "I don't wanna..."

The turtle smiled again as he replied. "I've got a secret stash of cookies in the van, you want some? You'll have to-"

The hippo's eyes shot open and immediately sat up, looking back to Bentley. "OKAY I'M UP!"

"Shhh! You might wake the guards!"

Murray whispered. "Oh... right. Sorry."

"Now, we need to prevent Penelope from ending the Cooper family. Now where is-"

"Wait, Penelope did this?! But how?!" Murray interrupted.

"You didn't see anything, did you?"

The hippo continued. "I only remember hearing voices behind the van after you guys left. I was a little scared but I had to protect her! I couldn't lose her again Bentley! So when I checked, I was being... shocked! Then like, SEVEN GUYS dog-piled on me! I tried to put up a fight but I was paralyzed. I was knocked out and that's it."

A smile appeared on his face, having a joyful tone. "Then I dreamed about having UNLIMITED PILES OF PIZZA AND ICECREAM! IT WAS AWESOME! THEN I SWAM IN-"

"Okay you're getting loud again!"

Isabella giggled as she looked to her left, seeing Carmelita talking to Sly as she held him in her arms. Isabella walked towards the couple, but the closer she got, the more detail she seen.

The fox had tears in her eyes as her fingers went through his hair. Sly's eyes remained closed as his tail's tip was disappearing. Sly's hat was laying on the fox's lap. Carmelita, eyes still locked on Sly, spoke with a croaky voice. "He told me... he would never... leave me again."

Her lip was shaking as she bit her lip, releasing a tear.

* * *

***Uh-oh... Is it what you think it is? How badly would this affect everyone... Thank you for reading so far! Sorry these are short but they'll get longer. Way longer... So next chapter is up, will Sly continue to disappear and if he does, will he be gone... forever?***


	21. Quiet

**Chapter Twenty-****One: Quiet**

"No... he can't be..."

Bentley glanced over to the girls and smiled. "So how's Sly do-"

His face dropped at the sight of Carmelita crying. "Oh no..."

The turtle's wheelchair quickly moved towards their site, Murray following as well.

The turtle looked through his cracked glasses to see Sly motionless in Carmelita's arms.

"Sly?" Murray spoke out. "You okay buddy?" The hippo's eyes became more moist as they stared at Sly.

Bentley took off his gloves as he thought to himself. "Please... not him.. too... no... not now..."

The turtle picked Sly's motionless left arm up and placed his two green fingers upon Sly's wrist. Everything became silent. All you could hear is the cold breeze passing by, making the sand dance with it, but it was just dead silence.

Isabella felt something inside her... something that was bringing her down. Her heart was beating faster, but slowly sinking. Her right ear was aching a little. She felt a little fragile inside, her throat burns from resisting to cry in this cold night.

"No... please be okay brother. I need you... don't leave me... you're the only family I have left..."

Suddenly, Bentley felt his two fingers being lightly pushed from Sly's wrist, feeling a warm, heavy and steady beat. A smile grew on the turtle's face as he looks at everyone. "Now I'm not a doctor but he's alive! I just don't know if he's unconscious or under a coma..."

Murray took a deep breath. "Oh good... I thought he was a goner!"

The hippo's face however turned confused. "What is a coma Bentley?"

"It's like being knocked out, but no one knows when you'll wake up or if you'll remember anything."

"WAIT! So he might never wake up for years?! He might not remember us or who he is?! What will we do Bentley?!"

The stressed out raccoon had huge and shocked eyes as she grabbed her short hair by her scalp.

"Relax Mar- uh... Isabella. I don't know... but we need to prevent Penelope from changing the Cooper history."

"WAIT! Why did you call Marta... Isabella?" asked Murray.

"A long story... look I don't have time to explain! Look, I need to make a plan. We need to go back to the broken time machine. And Isabella?"

"Yeah?"

"If... Penelope... was correct about you being a Cooper, you should be disappearing any minute now. Since you are the youngest, you'll be going away last, because you were born last. That's why the Thievius Raccoonus is disappearing left from right. Just look, Sly's disappearing quicker, his tail! Wait..."

Bentley watched Sly, his tail was completely gone, along with his left hand. His left forearm was also transparent. Also, Sly's right foot it gone. "His arm, leg, and tail is gone... all in minutes of talking. We have no time to waste... let's go before we get ambushed again!"

Murray picked up Sly, making Carmelita reach for Sly. She still sat there watching Sly. Isabella held out her hand towards Carmelita, making the fox grab it. She stood up, and finally took her eyes off of her love. "Sorry for not saying it before but you did a really good job with your flute..."

Isabella smiled. "Thanks... and I'm sorry for all the times I've been mean to you ever since I met you."

"It's okay."

Carmelita looked back at Sly. "Come on let's hurry up."

Bentley sat beside the van, which was dented and tipped on its side.

"Uh Bentley, did you say something about Marta being a Cooper?"

"It's Isabella Murray. And yeah sh-"

"OH NO! MY BABY! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU GIRL?!"

"Murray be careful with Sly, we don't want to help him get amnesia! And man these guards are powerful sleepers. They won't wake up to you!"

"I NEED TO HELP HER!"

"CAREFULLY MURRAY!"

As Murray was about to drop Sly, Carmelita snatched the raccoon from his arms. "Dammit Murray!"

Murray ran straight for the van, tipping her back over until it's wheels landed on the sand.

Murray placed his hand on the dent, whimpering. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. Mama's sorry..."

Isabella raised her one eyebrow. "Mama?"

"Don't question it..." Carmelita assured.

"Okay." Bentley said. "Murray we are in a hurry here... Carmelita take Sly in. I'm staying in the back. Isabella, you can sit in the front with Murray. Let's go gang!" Carmelita threw Bentley a nasty look. "Uh, s-sorry, gang and I-Inspector."

Carmelita looked down to Sly, miserably. She carried him to the back of the truck as Isabella sat in the passenger seat. Bentley went over to the 3-D Timing Projector. "This might be cool to have."

He grabbed the device and moved his wheelchair towards the mouse's corpse. "Call me dumb like you did back in Medieval England, but still seem to be cute to me..."

"C'mon Bentley!" Yelled Carmelita. "Sly just lost his whole left arm now. HURRY!"

Bentley was picked up by Murray and put in the back with Carmelita and Sly. "Let's go guys! And Bentley... where's the secret stash of cookies?"

During the ride back, Bentley's heart ached from the sight of Carmelita holding Sly's waist tightly as the raccoon lied on her. His head was placed on her chest as she played with his hair again. The Fox looked over to the turtle looking at her.

"I love him Bentley... so much... I hope he will be okay... will he?"

Bentley tried to speak, without lying. He just sat there thinking. "Jeez how do I know... I don't know if he'll ever wake up. That raccoon I met at the orphanage... my lifelong best friend... he's hurt, and for the first time, I don't know what to do..."

Bentley placed his hands upon his face, stressed. "I don't know Carmelita... he should... he'll have to wake up sometime right?"

The van drove through the dark sandy area as they head to the broken time machine. "Wake up Sly... please wake up..."

* * *

***Aw, poor Bentley... he's lost Penelope and losing Sly... Will he bring Penelope back? If he does, wouldn't she continue to cause trouble? Will Bentley figure out a plan before Sly is completely gone? Read to find out. Thank you for supporting me, I appreciate it!***


	22. The Servant

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Servant**

The group arrived at the broken time machine with the van. Sly didn't wake up yet, making everyone more anxious. Carmelita however, took it the worse. She was silent the whole car ride after talking to Bentley. Murray's foot compelled against the brakes as Isabella looked out the window.

"Well we're back at this place. The huge sandy open area that contains no living objects but us. All you can see is this broken down time machine and pyramids from afar. Why are we here Bentley?"

The turtle blankly replied. "We can't bring Sly with us while we stop Penelope. Who knows what will happen and we can't risk him anymore damage. Besides, I need to think of a plan and I couldn't so far! Or at least a plan under time pressure, thanks to Sly disappearing even quicker now..."

The stressed turtle made a wanly expression as he pondered "I'm so tired... I want to sleep so bad but I can't! My friend's life is on the line here!"

Bentley continued, looking at Isabella. "I need to think of how to stop Penelope, what to do with her so she can't cause any more destruction, and what to do with Sly! I don't know what will happen, okay... Just give me time, I'm under pressure here!"

Murray and Carmelita listened to Bentley and Isabella's conversation. The van was still parked next to the time machine.

"Well, why doesn't Carmelita put her to jail?"

"I already have." The fox answered, then growled. "She escaped, of course."

Bentley crossed his arms. "She even sent me postcards of her escape!"

Isabella giggled to herself. "Wow okay. So what, are we just going to leave Sly in there, alone?"

"NO I REFUSE! I'm not taking one step without Sly!" Carmelita gritted her teeth. "How dare you want to leave him helpless in there alone!"

"Okay Carmelita calm down you can stay with him. Isabella, Murray and I will go. Now let's get inside! There's no time to waste!"

Bentley opened the back door of the van. "As a matter of fact, I should stay in here to make a plan. You guys can go in Le Paradox's destroyed creation until I'm done. I should be done in a jiffy!"

Carmelita took Sly out from the back and carried him to the time machine, following Murray and Isabella. The turtle sat in the back of the van. "Okay I have a possible plan to stop her, but how can I stop her for good?"

Bentley was deep in his thoughts, looking for an answer. When his eyes met with a spare computer in the back, he immediately took it down and started taking out its parts.

***Two Hours Later***

The tired raccoon finally decided to rest after a very overwhelming day. She was told and shown she was a Cooper. "I can't believe all of this can happen to me. I loved everything about Coopers and it turns out I am one! That's amazing... if only Sly was up... I wonder how he feels about this, if he'll even remember it..."

Isabella looked over to her left and saw Carmelita still up, lying next to Sly. All she's been doing is keep her eyes locked on the raccoon, feeling his hair and fur, being silent the whole time. "How long have you been doing that?"

The fox finally took her big brown eyes off of Sly, now looking at his sister. "What?"

"Just watching him. Have you tried going to sleep? You need it."

"I tried but I can't... just look at him now..."

Sly was missing all his arms and his legs. All he had left was his chest and his head. "He's going away Isabella. Bentley needs to make his plan quickly or he will be gone..."

Carmelita's face seemed to be absent to Isabella. The fox looked back at Sly and covered him with her blanket. She wrapped her arm around the raccoon as she tried closing her eyes.

Isabella couldn't sleep either. She decided to get up and walk around. She saw Murray snoozing near her old bedroom. She was facing her room, which across from it was the bedroom of Le Paradox. That's where Murray and Bentley slept the night they got reunited with Sly.

Next to that room was the control room, where Le Paradox controlled the enormous machine. "This was the top floor of the machine. It's a mystery to me what's under there."

"It's just extra rooms that held machinery to keep the machine going. Trust me I know. Le Paradox captured me."

Isabella caught Inspector Fox looking at her. "Why did he capture you?"

"So he can use me as bait for Sly to come. It worked, he found me and both of us got caught. He wanted to save me, but it was a trap. We got out, thanks to Tennessee Kid Cooper, and Sly tried to defeat Le Paradox. That was the last time seeing Sly again for months..."

"How... did that feel?"

"He told me to go... his gang and I had to go while he defeated Le Paradox. He did but we didn't see Sly after watching the time machine disappear. The first couple days, all I did was investigate. I needed something to see where Sly could be. I was worried sick, and so was Bentley. I lost him, and I thought I lost him forever after months of continuous search... it was an unexplainable feeling... I still loved him, even after all he's done. I wanted to say I was sorry, I wanted to see him again... I thought he was lost in time forever... at that time I just lost hope..."

"Wow..."

"Now that he is going away, he's leaving me again..."

"Aw... I'm sorry Carmelita. We will get this over with! Once Bentley-"

"I made a plan! Wake up Murray! Let's go now!"

The turtle smiled at Isabella when he entered the machine. "I figured out how to get Penelope take care of. C'mon gang! And Carmelita, you can watch over Sly."

The three gathered in the van. Murray and Isabella sat in the front when Bentley stayed in the back. "I hooked up Penelope's device to my time machine so we can go back in time whenever we want without using an artifact. I added more voice commands to it too!"

"Good!" Isabella exclaimed. "What's the plan?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

The turtle looked over to the device. "Take us back seven months, three days, and five hours ago, located twenty feet behind Penelope."

"Twenty feet?! That's too close!"

The car vanished from the time and the gang saw light blue lights flashing all around them. There was nothing in sight but big bright swirls in front of them. Isabella felt pressure as she was being sucked in the hole with the gang. The lights started to turn yellow and the next second, they landed back in a sand covered area.

"Here's the plan, Isabella comes to sneak over to bring Penelope down CAREFULLY, Murray catches up and pins her to the ground, then I'll do the rest. Let's go!"

Isabella held Sly's cane she brought with her as she was waiting for Bentley's signal. He was about to do so when he noticed her one ear is missing. "Speak of the devil... It's true..."

He stared at it for a while but continued with the signal. The turtle made a fist and pointed out his pointer and middle finger. He placed the fingers in front of his hat and then swung his arm towards Penelope. The raccoon ran without delay towards the mouse. She was dressing in a black outfit as the palace was seen in front of her a quarter-mile away. Isabella took the cane and suddenly pulled the mouse to the ground. Her body landed on the soft bed of sand as the sun started to set.

Penelope's face was covered with her hood, not seeing a thing. "Agh! Who are you! I demand to know!"

Bentley cried, "Now Murray!"

The hippo ran to the raccoon and held the mouse's arms together. "Let go of me now!"

Bentley carried something in his hand as his wheelchair glided through the sand. The turtle removed the black hood from Penelope's face as he held out the object in front of her face. The device was a black and shiny cylinder shape. It was skinny as a pencil and it reached from the Bentley's finger tips to his green wrist. It was in a standing position as Penelope darkly looked at Bentley.

"Bentley, what are you here for? Can't leave me alone much?"

"You were going to change the Cooper line!"

Penelope sneered. "You and the Coopers... man you've become so brainwashed! I need you to see your potential! I had to take care of them to get you to realize that!"

"Sorry Penelope but you won't be any good with your... right mind."

The mouse nervously looked at the device Bentley was holding. "Uh... w-what is that Bentley...?"

"Don't worry, you'll only feel a pinch in your brain!"

The turtle snatched Penelope's glasses with his left hand as he placed his thumb on top of the device with his right hand.

"You might be cute when you're acting dumb."

Bentley pressed his thumb on the object and a flash of a bright white light faced the defenseless mouse. "Ouch!"

"Bentley!" cried Murray as he looked at the turtle. "What does that thingy do?"

"You'll see, big guy."

Penelope closed her small eyes, restlessly laying on the soft yellow sand. The sun was setting, making a beautiful and calming orange that painted the surroundings. The warm sun rays soaked in the animals as it bounced off the grains of sand, making the ground sparkle. Everyone stared at the mouse as she just lie there with her eyes closed. Wind picked up the sand, carrying it everywhere.

"Murray, let go of her. Isabella, get ready for any sudden moves."

The raccoon looked over to Bentley. "Did you just make that?"

"Yeah, all I had to do is take apart an extra computer I had and reassemble the pieces. Complicated for you, but easy for me!"

"Wow, you seem really important in the gang! You're very smart."

Bentley smiled in agreement as she looked over to Penelope. She had both of her hands holding her head. "Ugh my head... ow..."

Her eyes opened to a turtle in a wheel chair. Her eyes filled with dismay, not knowing who he is. "Wh-Who are you?! What's g-going on?!"

Her face looked over to the raccoon too, and where she is. "Who are you?! And... where am I? Please don't hurt me, I-I don't mean any harm... please."

Bentley spoke, having an 'innocent' tone to his voice. "But, don't you remember who you are?"

The mouse sat up, only one hand pressing on her head. "N-no...?"

"Why, you're Penelope, my uh... servant. You've must've hit your head, you poor thing! I'm Bentley, don't worry... I give you many breaks during your job. This is I-"

Bentley paused in his sentence, thinking to himself. "Maybe telling her she's a Cooper won't be such a good idea..."

Bentley continued to speak, "Uh, Isabella Coon, and behind you is Murray. We treat you fairly as long as you do your job."

The mouse looked behind her to meet eyes with the pink hippo. Isabella whispers to Bentley. "Once again, clever."

Penelope looked back to the turtle. "Wh-what do I do?"

"You normally clean up our place and help us do work around here. You'll need some freshing up to do. Let's go home gang..." the turtle smirked. "And lady."

They arrived back to the broken time machine with the van, Penelope still clueless of her surroundings. "We are here!" Bentley joyfully yelled. "Now Penelope, there will be two more people to see. Maybe that might jog your memory!"

"This is where... you live?!"

Bentley chuckled. "No no... only temporarily..."

The four entered the broken time machine, although not seeing a pleasant sight. They watch Carmelita crouching on the floor, crying in the area Sly used to lie...

* * *

***Will he appear back, or was Bentley and the gang... to late... keep reading to find out. Is the story good so far? Review if you'd like! Other than that, enjoy fellow earthlings!***


	23. Without Sly

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Without Sly**

Isabella's mouth was wide open as she stared at the fox. "Oh no..."

Bentley hit his hand against his wheelchair, gritting his teeth. "But... we just fixed the problem! This doesn't make any sense! That's it I'm calling Dimitri! Tell me if Sly appears back..."

The hippo looked around for Sly. "I don't see him. Where did he go?"

"He's... not here..." answered Isabella. "Carmelita?"

The fox didn't answer, just kept crying...

"Okay well we have Penelope with us."

The crying stopped. "What...?!"

Carmelita turned to the three, keeping her eyes locked on the mouse.

Raging anger filled Carmelita's voice after due sniffed. "You... YOU DID THIS!"

"Huh? What?!"

"Carmelita, Penelope our servant..." Isabella winked. "...hit her head and seems to be suffering from amnesia..."

The fox made an unsure expression. "Okay then... I guess that works..."

She looked back at the spot next to her, looking upset again.

"So Penelope, you can sit anywhere you'd like in here... I'll go see what Bentley is up to..."

Isabella glanced at Carmelita and frowned as she turned to face the dark outside. The wind chilled the raccoon as her fur swayed with it. The raccoon overheard Bentley having a conversation in the van.

"So it's fine now, just no history files?"

"Yeah."

"Okay... thanks Dimitri."

"No problemo bro... and say yo to Sly for me, 'kay?"

Isabella entered the van as she seen Bentley put away the green top-like device away. "Hello Isabella..."

The turtle grew tired, having a croaky voice to him.

"What's going on? Will Sly be alright?"

Bentley sighed as he rolled his wheelchair towards the Cooper. "I might as well explain to the group..."

The two came out the back and headed to the broken time machine.

"What will happen? Will he appear again? Will I start disappearing, now that he's gone... not a full day knowing he's my brother and he's the only family I have left... now he goes..."

The raccoon never noticed her right rear was missing. Although nothing else seemed to go away, and the ear didn't seem to reappear.

Isabella felt a slight depression, feeling her heart sink as she and Bentley entered the machine. Penelope was found sleeping on the floor in front of Isabella's room. Murray was trying to fight his eyes open but as for Carmelita, she was wide awake.

"Okay gang... I just finished talking to Dimitri to check with The Thievius Raccoonus..."

Bentley's statement attracted Murray and Carmelita's attention as the turtle continued.

"Good news and maybe bad news... Good news, the Thievius Raccoonus is reappearing left to right, so maybe Sly will reappear. The possibly bad news, there's still no history files of Sly... I don't know if we have to wait until the book is complete for him to come back, or he gets affected in time yet again... If Sly appears again, who knows when or where he'll appear... I was planning that if he doesn't appear here in two days, then we should go back to Paris j-"

"NO!" yelled Carmelita. I'm not leaving this spot! I'm not leaving him!"

Bentley held out both of his hands close to him. "Carmelita let me finish. I don't know if he'll appear here or at Paris. Heck, I don't even know if he will appear! Look... tomorrow I will keep checking with Dimitri to check on the book. I'll try to find anything about Sly but this is all I can do before we go to Paris. He might appear in Paris... I don't know! I just need more time. We are staying here for two days and we're going, unless you want to stay in Ancient Egypt for the rest of your life... I'm going to sleep, I'm exhausted. I'll be in the van if you need me..."

The turtle went back outside as Murray rubbed his eyes, slowly walking in Le Paradox's room. Isabella decided to sit behind to Carmelita, who was lying on her left side.

"Do you remember when we went inside the Cooper Ruins... and he commented to me about the dress?"

"Yeah... and something about a dance too."

Carmelita sat up and continued. "I can't forget it... I'm wearing the same black dress too... "

Tears welled in the fox's eyes and looks at Isabella. "His last words to me... were about it... I-I... couldn't..."

Carmelita closed her eyes as multiple tears escaped from them. She held her knees against her chest, burying her head in between the two. "I can't stop... thinking about it... all the times we kissed, danced... I-I c-can't take this a-anym-more Isabella... I love him too much for him to go..."

The fox sobs harder and louder, making Isabella gently rub her back. "I'm sorry Carmelita..."

"S-s... See-e..."

Carmelita took a deep breath as she lifts head slowly. "S-s-eeing him... being thrown... his head h-hitting the rock... I felt it t-too... but a heart break from the frightening sight of his head smashing into the stone... I-I thought that was... the last of h-him."

She covers her face with her hands, wailing even more. "I n-need t-to be w-with you... the only r-ringtail I-I..." Carmelita smiled at Isabella. "... that I have l-left..."

The smile however, quickly died out. "All this thinking... all t-this time seeing him disappear right before my eyes... losing him just the day after meeting him again from a long time... changed me and m-made me realize some things..."

Curiously, Isabella asked, "What is it?"

"I love the way he teases, the way he tricks me, when he lies to me... being slick and well... sly! I loved Investigating where he might be so I can put him under arrest! I knew he would always go away, and I knew he couldn't underestimate me. All the times I chased him, with anger... he just laughs at that. I don't care if he lies to me about loving me... I love him, and my job is well... no fun without him. He's like my other half... the half I need to go on. I want him... I need him... it's just who I am and who he is."

Isabella smiled at Carmelita as the raccoon stood up. "We will get him back... I know we will. We have to, we are the Cooper Gang!"

The fox gave back a weak smile as she seen Isabella yawn. "Yeah... we will I hope. I'll stay up to see if he comes back, you should go to sleep now, it's getting late."

"Goodnight Carmelita... I hope things get better... for you especially."

The raccoon turned away from the fox as she slowly walks towards Penelope.

"Oh, Isabella?"

She turned around to Carmelita smiling at her as she wipes off her tears.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for listening to me... I needed that. Almost never have I expressed my feelings and thoughts with someone else, and I feel comfortable doing so with you... Thank you..."

Isabella wearily smirked as she responded. "No problem Carmelita. I'm always here, no matter what."

The drowsy raccoon entered her bedroom, leaving Carmelita alone. She set her back on the floor as she turned her head left. Carmeilta sullenly glared at the floor next to her, the spot Sly Cooper used to lie as she sighed. "I miss you ringtail..."

* * *

***Poor Carmelita... we've never seen her like this before, until now. Next chapter is two days later... the day the gang leaves... will they get to see Sly again? Will Carmelita be able to move on? Okay... enough with the questions, just read more, you'll know more. Love something about the story so far? Hate or dislike something about it? Tell me so I can improve on the for reading!***


	24. Leaving

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Leaving**

***WARNING: Contains a swear word... oh come on should I still be warning you? You'll survive :D***

**_*Two Long Days Later*_**

Carmelita continues to sit on the floor, being quiet for so long. She didn't talk to anyone after the conversation with Isabella two days ago. All she did was sit there. The fox couldn't go to sleep knowing Sly was gone. All she did for the past two days was... think.

"Seeing him disappear... he has to come back... please don't do this to me... this can't be happening to me... why... why does this have to happen. He's not coming back...! Why!"

The fox's thoughts got to herself, mentally and physically. The fox was wearing the same black dress for about five days now, making it worn out, wrinkly, and faded out. Her brooding face looked extremely tired with her dark circles, sunken eyes, and more pale than normal. Carmelita's heart weakly pumped from lack of sleep and food. Her bones felt weaker by the minute as she never moved from that spot.

"Never, have I ever felt this... dreadful."

Her city-like head had a continuous migraine, each word of her thoughts were like cars in a traffic jam. The fox felt weaker and weaker by each second. She didn't want to do anything anymore. She was almost emotionally dead...

Carmelita's dull blue hair was a mess. Her curls became frizzy, every strand of her hair was like straw instead of silky thread. Everything was a mess, hair poking out in almost every direction.

The bright shining sun peeked in through the time machine, its rays touching everything outside and Carmelita. The fox sees Isabella come in the machine with a large bowl of all kinds of fruits. Their eyes met with each other, making the raccoon observe Carmelita's worn out face. Isabella let out a displeased sigh as she spoke.

"Carmelita, why don't you eat some of these fruits I stole from the palace?" The raccoon walked in front of the sitting fox as she waved the bowl under Carmelita's face. "You smell that?"

Isabella brought the bowl of fruits under her nose, sniffing it. " *sniffs* Ah, the scent of fresh food!"

The raccoon smiled as she walked behind Carmelita. The fox still sat there, staring into space. Her face was now expressionless as her downcast eyes dropped to the ground. A croaky, unused, and exhausted voice escaped her mouth. She didn't use her voice for a while until now.

"Sly always stole things... he can't steal anymore."

Her back fell to the ground, her aching eyes still open.

The raccoon turned back to Carmelita, rolling her eyes. "Look, we all miss Sly here... I do too..."

Isabella's teeth bit her lip, but continued. "...as much as it hurts, we need to keep going or we will be gone like Sly. I don't recall the last time you ate, why don't you eat some of these yummy and delicious figs, berries, grapes, cut melons and pomegranates? You know you want them..."

"I don't want any, Isabella..."

"Why not? You haven't eaten in days!"

Carmelita closed her eyes, still having the same tone in her voice. "I don't want to do anything... anymore."

The raccoon ran towards the fox, placing the bowl next to her. Her two hands tightly gripped the shoulders of Carmelita, picking her back up from the ground. The fox's eyelids slowly peeked open to Isabella.

"C'mon, don't do this to yourself!"

The hands shook the shoulders, bringing back Carmelita's fragile head.

"YOU are Inspector Carmelita Fox, the most enforcing officer who doesn't take bull crap like this! She is strong, and can kick anyone's ass in a split second! This, how you're acting, isn't her! You need to get up and change the problem, help it get solved and not live in the past. You have to go on, and find the solution of the problem! Get up!"

Carmelita's face was absent. She still sat there, powerless.

Isabella rolled her eyes once more as she picks the fox up from the ground. Carmelita stood there, her muscles shaking from days of no use.

"See what no food and sleep does to you? Here..."

The raccoon bends over to pick up the bowl of fruits as she gives it to Carmelita. "Eat something, or you definitely won't be able to see Sly again!"

Carmelita looks at the food as she picks up a mix of berries.

Isabella spots Penelope reaching her small arms out in the air, sitting on the ground as a yawn escapes her mouth. The mouse removes the glasses from her face as she rubs her eyes.

"Well good morning Penelope. I st-... uh got some fruit for everyone to have before we go to Paris."

"Okay, thanks Isabella."

The short mouse stands up and stretches. Carmelita whispered so only Isabella can hear. "What really happened to her, and how long is she staying with us?"

Isabella whispered back. "Bentley made a device to make her forget everything. It worked, and for some reason, Bentley wants her as a servant. I don't know why, probably to keep an eye on her or something."

The fox nodded, still whispering. "Okay you Cooper Gang have fun with that. I just don't want to look at her for what she caused."

The mouse slowly drifted towards Carmelita's direction. "Where's the food?"

Isabella smiled. "Carmelita has the bowl full of it! You two can share. Enjoy the food."

Carmelita sneered at Isabella, starting to somewhat feel emotions again. Penelope walked in front of the fox as she reached her hand in the bowl. The mouse noticed Carmelita's wrinkled nose with the her eyebrows pulled down. The Fox's upper lip was drawn up, the lower eyelid is tensed and her eye openings narrowed. The pressing of Carmelita's lips concluded a disgusted facial expression.

Penelope didn't know why the fox seemed to dislike her but it didn't concern her that much. She was too busy trying to remember anything from her past. The mouse grabbed the pomegranate and walked back to the spot she slept. All of a sudden, a pink hippo came out from Le Paradox's room. "I heard to word food! I'm starving!"

Isabella smirked at Murray from his joy. "Yes Murray. I retrieved some fruits from the pa-"

"Did they have pizza?"

"Uh... pizza?"

"Yeah y'know, that good stuff!"

"No... just fruits."

"Darn!"

Murray walked towards Carmelita as he takes the pieces of melons. He sniffed the fruit, almost gagging. "Uh, thanks Marta... but I'll pass."

Isabella's one eyebrow raised as she corrected, "It's Isabella, Murray."

Murray's face turned puzzled. "Why? I thought it was Marta."

"I'll tell you everything later when less ears are listening."

Isabella gave a quick glance at Penelope, who wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

"What does your name have to do with ears?"

The raccoon covers her face with her hand as Bentley enters the broken time machine.

"Okay I just told Dimitri to check on everything before we go back to Paris. He should be calling me back any minute. Bring what you want or need, we're getting the heck out of here!"

Carmelita's pained face looks over to Bentley. "B-but... Sly..."

The turtle looked at the fox with a serious tone. "Carmelita, right now Sly is still not existing. I can't do anything without my technology over at the hideout. I'm sorry, I did say we can stay here for two days, and those days are now up. Trust me Carmelita, going to Paris is the best choice now."

Carmelita looks at the spot she last seen her love vanish. She bit her lip but nodded in agreement. "Okay... let's go..."

The five were located in the van, getting ready to go back to present day. Murray was in the driver seat while Carmelita sat in the passenger seat. Bentley, Penelope, and Isabella were held in the back of the van. Bentley was checking up on everything before the heist.

"3-D Timing Projector... check. Hooked into the time machine... check. Every gadget working... check. Isabella, did you pack up all your belongings?"

"Yes sir."

"Check."

Suddenly, everyone in the van heard a high-pitched sound. Bentley immediately retrieved his green device, seeing Dimitri in the hologram.

"Waz up main man!"

"We're just about to leave Ancient Egypt and on our way to Paris. Any news about Sly?"

"Whoa!" shrieked Penelope. "That's cool! Did you make that? You must be very smart Bentley!"

Bentley threw a smile at Penelope as he replied. "Indeed I am Penelope. When we get back, maybe I could teach you a few th-"

"Enough with the tacky convo and get in business!"

Bentley coughed, looking back at Dimitri. "Sorry... continue..."

"Your techno boxes are saying words again bro! Look!"

The lizard faced the device in front of Bentley's computer screen. Everyone within the van stared at Bentley as he read out, "Sly Cooper History Files restored."

Carmelita's face brightened up from the news. Her face didn't look happy for days. The fox felt a slight rinse of joy upon her, making her heart beat more with life again. She felt more awake now, no longer feeling weak inside. Carmelita listened in closer as Dimitri faced the device towards himself.

"Stand cool 'cause now, that cracker-box is out there!"

"Thanks Dimitri!" Bentley smiled. "We'll see you very soon once we find out where he is!"

"No sweat turtle for seasoning your day! Case is cooked! Heh heh..."

Bentley turned the device off as he happily looks at everyone. "Sly is existent!"

Isabella cries out a, "Yay!" as she joyfully bounces next to Penelope. "My brother! He's alive! But... where is he?"

"Wait..." said Murray. "Brother? SLY IS YOUR BROTHER?!"

The raccoon giggles as she replied. "Yes Murray. We were informed this while you were... knocked out."

"So you are Sly's sister! That's totally righteous! I knew your tail was familiar with his! Awesome! We could look at movies together, make crafts, maybe even-"

"Look Murray, I know you're eager about Isabella being related to Sly, but we need to find out where he is now! I know just the thing for the job."

Bentley turns on the 3-D Timing Projector, making big lights come out of the device, forming a square of light.

"Wow you made this too! Well Bentley..." Penelope made a cheesy smirk. "You are very talented..."

"Actually, a special friend of mine made this. I just but some finishing touches to it."

Carmelita raised her eyebrow as she sarcastically remarked. "Special friend?"

Bentley ignored Carmelita as he spoke towards the device. "View Sly Cooper, present location."

The projection showed Sly lying on a floor, sunlight shining on him. He looked like he was back to normal, his body parts were the same as they should be. Sly is back... clothes remain on him. He is found, what looks of it, sleeping on the ground. A bowl of fruits lay next to him. "He's in the time machine!" cried Carmelita.

Penelope's eyes became attracted to Sly, the way he just lied there. "Wow... he's not bad-looking at all!"

Carmelita made a wolfish expression at the mouse, snarling. "He's mine rat! You leave him alone!"

The fox stormed out the van as the gang watches her run to the time machine.

"Now I see why she hates me..."

Carmelita enters the machine, seeing a motionless raccoon on the ground. Her whole body filled with relief as the fox immediately broke down in tears. Her knees feel to the floor as her eyes stare at her love. She buried her head in his chest as she cries even more. "I can feel you again..."

The four watched the projection, seeing Carmelita stay with Sly a little more. The fox grabbed his blue shirt as she drops multiple tears on it. "I love you Sly... please be okay.. I want to hear your voice again.. I miss it so bad..."

Carmelita crawled on top of the raccoon as she put her fingers through his fur on his face. The couple's lips joined together, kissing him over and over. She placed her head on his chest, continuing to cry.

"Should I help her carry Sly in the van?"

"Yes Murray..." Bentley agreed. "...but give her some time. The heart is a soft muscle, let it heal..."

* * *

***Yay, Sly is back! BUT, when will he wake up and most importantly, will he remember anything? Let's hope he does! Next chapter is going back to Paris! I had to describe everything with this one! Never been there but I've tried my best... Seems like Penelope is taking some interest in Bentley's creations, does she still remember some things? Who knows... not even me... XD Have fun with the next chapter, you'll be smacked in the face with lots of detail!***


	25. The Beauty of Paris

**Chapter Twenty-Five: The Beauty of Paris**

Isabella, Bentley, and Penelope watch the hippo carry the unconscious raccoon in his arm. His head was laying on the right side of Murray, his right arm hanging out. Sly's eyes were closed as Carmelita walked beside Murray. Isabella kept seeing the fox glance at the raccoon anxiously.

"She really needs this right now..." thought Isabella. "Well, at least he's alive and here. We can see and feel him again... but who knows when he'll wake up to do the same..."

The raccoon, happy to see her brother, didn't feel super excited. "I wonder if he'll remember anything... or me... If he even wakes up..."

Bentley opened the back door of the van, seeing Murray, Sly, and Carmelita. The mouse stared at Sly with her mouth open. Her eyes became bigger as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Carmelita threw a nasty look at Penelope, who was enjoying Sly's view.

"You!"

The mouse's eyes promptly scanned Carmelita's face, making her slowly close her mouth.

"Why don't you sit in the front with Murray. Don't worry, he won't bite!"

Carmelita made a devilish smirk as Penelope climbed to the passenger seat.

The fox crawled in the van, laying her back against the driver seat. "Murray, you can give him to me, gently though. I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt again."

Carmelita reached her hands out as they are reunited with Sly's body. She wrapped her arms around the raccoon's skinny waist, pulling it to hers. She pulls the rest of Sly on top of her, that way he is laying on her. His head rested on Carmelita's left shoulder as his legs lie together in between her two legs. His stick yet furry legs extended past her slim and shiny ones. The fox removed her black heels, covering her bare feet on his. Carmelita hugs Sly tighter as her face pressed against his.

Bentley and Isabella watched the fox from the other side of the van cuddle with her love as Murray closed the back door. Isabella remained to look at Sly but as for Bentley, he turned his head hopelessly towards Penelope. He brought his two eyebrows together going in an upwards position as his lips moved to the side of his face. He moved his chair closer to the passenger seat and lays his head on the seat.

The hippo shook the van just to get in. "So Bentley... aren't you going to do stuff with your time traveler?"

Bentley's head shot up from the chair as he turned to the 3-D Timing Projector. It's projection still viewed Sly, only now he was in the van. "Take us to present day, Paris. Drive Murray."

The outside of the van starts to spark with light blue sparks as Murray's foot pressed against the gas pedal. The faster the tires glided with the sparkly sand, the more sparks covered the van. So much covered the van, eventually sealing the van with the lights. A huge flash replaced the van, removing it from the warm and sandy Ancient Egypt.

The van was transferred to a very bright area as it floats around. Nothing is seen but a gaping hole in front of the gang. The closer the van came to the hole, the more pressure everyone felt. Isabella's brown eyes still remain on the couple as Sly's cane lies next to her. Bentley grips the passenger seat, getting ready to be vacuumed inside the hole. The van gets sucked into the hole, making Penelope a little worried. "Woah... wo-... AHH! What's going... ON?!"

The mouse's body was forced into the chair, Murray was gripping tightly on the wheel. Carmelita dug her fingers into Murray's seat, making her stay in place. Isabella's body flies to the back of the van, unable to move as her body was being pinned to the wall. The raccoon's eyes widened as the van was being shot out of the hole. Carmelita looked over to Isabella, giving her a beatific expression.

The van roughly landed making Carmelita hold Sly's head. The car dribbled a few times before actually stopping. Isabella's body fell from the wall, landing on her face. "That... WAS AWESOME! I felt the rush inside me! So exciting!"

"Yeah!" yelled Murray. "I agree Isabella! I can tell we will be good friends, I know it!"

Penelope's eyes were filled with terror, staring into space. "Wh-what j-j-just... h-happened-d...?"

Bentley let go of the seat as he looks out the front windshield through his broken glasses. "Penelope, Isabella... welcome to Paris. It looks like the afternoon out there. Let's go to the hideout!"

Isabella climbed in the front on the van, pushing Penelope aside. The raccoon's face and hands pressed against the window. Isabella was flabbergasted with the beautiful view of Paris.

Their van seemed to land in a parking spot off the beautiful road. Sidewalks where very wide, engraved with small and dark grey squares, and full of animal-like people. Each tree was evenly placed in between each street light, which were black, tall, and skinny. The streetlights held three lights in each. Each light was inside a white sphere container, topped with a shiny black vine-like design. Maroon park benches had a black outline on them as they sat on the sidewalk. Many stores such as coffee shops, perfume stores, food markets and more were on the right side of the van, being connected to each other. Different people were laughing, talking on their phones, kissing, and walking down the sidewalk holding hands. Most of them where wearing hats. Isabella heard some people talking in an unknown language to her. Others she recognized were talking English, but with a different accent to her. The raccoon climbed off of Penelope and sat on Murray's lap, looking on the other side of the van. Various cars passed by, driving on the smooth, sleek and black road. Some people were driving on their own motorcycles. She hears cars drive by, motors running, tires causing friction on the road and car horn beeping, altogether making an endless amount of noise. Isabella saw more buildings next to the road.

They were breathtaking to the raccoon. The building was milk-white, covered with numbers of windows that can open to their own mini patio. That building, including the ones next to it, was about a story tall. Traffic lights blinked, the sun was barely seen behind the big white cotton balls of clouds. The raccoon rolled down Murray's window, inhaling her first chilling scent of Paris. Isabella could see many other buildings, finely decorated with swirls and patterns. It was really astonishing to the raccoon.

"I never seen such a beautiful place... is this the real world? What it's like?"

Bentley smirked at Isabella.

"This is just part of the world Isabella. Different places look different and some look same. Although Paris is best known as the most romantic city. You should really see this place at night-time from the hideout. Sly wanted the hideout near the great Eiffel Tower to look at its beauty at night. He always loved to climb on it too. Murray, we should head out there to the hideout now."

"Got it buddy."

Isabella shared the passenger seat with Penelope as the van entered the busy road. Various cars of all colors drove with the van as it headed to the Cooper hideout. Carmelita chose not to look at the beautiful sight, but instead keeping all her attention to Sly. Her fingers were in between Sly's as she held him closer. The more the van drove around, the more Isabella seen. She saw stores that were entitled with words in french. The road they were on felt never-ending but to Isabella, it felt like a never-ending dream.

***After minutes of dreamy thoughts later...***

The six arrived at the apartment that held the hideout. The apartment was dark brown, decorated with bricks. Some bricks were dark red wine color, but the most were brown. There were two doors paralleled to each other, about a foot apart. Windows covered most of the building, all evenly spaced out. The van parked in front of the two doors.

Bentley moved his wheel chair to open the back door as he yelled out, "We're here!" Isabella shot out Penelope's door and her feet landed on the hard ground. She walked into the street as she held her hands high in the bright sky. "Wow! So amazing!"

Bentley came out the back, looking over to the raccoon. "Get out the road before you turn into roadkill!"

The raccoon ran towards the Cooper van, jumping into the air. She makes a front flip whilst in air and effortlessly landed on top of the van. "WHOO HOO! YEAH! No sand, no time machine, no van, no Paradox family, no Klaww gang, no China house! Civilization! Actual beauty! The outside! I want to explore everything!"

Bentley pointed his one finger as Penelope and Murray got out of the van. "Isabella, I know you're excited that you are well... actually out... but we need to bring your brother inside the hideout so he can be officially safe. Carmelita, you can leave Sly in the van, but you can choose to stay or meet him in the hideout."

Isabella gave Bentley a puzzled look. "What do you mean? How will Sly be in the hideout, when you're leaving him in the van?"

The turtle held out a button attached to keys. "With these!"

Isabella raised her eyebrow as she put her right hand on her hip. "Car keys?"

Bentley smiled. "Not any ordinary car keys..."

"Sorry! I meant SHINY car keys."

Bentley's face turned annoyed. "Wow, being jocular really seems to run in the family huh..."

The turtle sighed as he continued. "No... watch and learn..."

His thumb pressed on the button as the van disappeared right before Isabella's eyes. Her mouth dropped, surprised of what happened. "H-how did you do that?! Where is it? Carmelita and Sly was in there!"

"I told you, they weren't any ordinary keys. Every time I lock the van it transports itself in the hideout. You didn't think I'd leave the van, including the time machine on the side of the road did you?"

Penelope grinned at the turtle. She held her hands together in front of her as she tips her left foot up. "You made that too Bentley?"

The mouse covers her mouth with her right hand, releasing a tiny giggle. "I like smart guys like you."

The turtle looks over to Penelope, smirking. "I know you do Penelope. I'd like to show you things we made together before you... hit your head."

"I made things too?! We made things together!"

Isabella and Murray looked at each other, bored as can be as the two continued to talk.

"Yes we did. I don't know if you remember anything but I would be glad to teach you some things..." Bentley paused, blushing. "If you wanna..."

"I'd love to!"

"Okay lovebirds..." Isabella rolled her eyes. "I think it's time we get inside and see the other lovebirds inside. It's a little cold out here."

Bentley nodded, still smirking at Penelope. "Affirmative. Let's go."

Isabella opened the door, not expecting what to see. The door opened to a short and dark hallway. She saw a ping ball table five feet away from the end of the hallway. Next to the Ping-Pong table was another table, but very cluttered. Books were left open, a laptop, some chocolate bits, tools such as screwdrivers and wrenches, blueprints and a couple of candles were flaming on the table. There were three medal chairs surrounding the table. Behind the cluttered table was an open wooden patio door. The curtains around it were rich crimson red, and almost reached the floor. The walls where mostly covered in a blue Byzantine Swirl wallpaper, although in some areas it was ripped off. Behind the wall paper were wooden walls. Outdoor sunlight shined into the area from the patio. The floors squeaked, made of engineered wooden planks. Some planks were missing and others were broken in half.

The raccoon walked out of the hallway and closer to the Ping-Pong table. A picture of a strange purple koala carrying a pink moonstone tied to a wooden staff caught Isabella's attention. The chair underneath the hanging picture was covered with a couple sweaters, dirty shoes, and a crumbled up blanket. To the left of the big and cluttered table was a huge shelf stand that carried very valuable treasures. Each shelf was covered, not having any more space for more. Lanterns hung from the ceiling, each next to both sides of the shelf case. The ceiling was wooden too. Stained bars of wood covered the whole ceiling with a snowflake shape.

Suddenly, as Isabella strolled towards the treasures, the raccoon tripped over the missing wooden plank in the floor. She picked herself up and flipped over seeing Bentley watching her. He put his right hand on his left arm as he spoke. "Yeah... the hideout needs a little... work on it... but what can I tell you... it's old!"

"A little work?!" yelled a voice from behind.

Bentley, Penelope, and Murray turned to a fox. "Bentley, dust and random junk covers everywhere."

"Hey!" Penelope scolded. "Bentley is a busy man, he doesn't have time to fix everything."

"Then can you please explain how the floors are missing parts, and other parts are split in half?!"

Murray looked down as he itches the back of his neck. "It's... embarrassing. Please don't mention it..."

"You men are so sloppy, I mean it!"

The fox stomped back to the van as Isabella gets up. On the other side next to the hallway was an arcade machine. Isabella ran towards it, her heart pumping faster with excitement. "Cool! What games do you have on it?"

Bentley smiled, Penelope holding his arm. "That has all of my hacking mini games on it. My name is written on every high score! I remain undefeated!"

Penelope giggled to Bentley's exhilaration. "It won't be for long once I play on it."

Bentley looks at the mouse, grinning as both of his eyebrows raise. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

Penelope gives a teasing look. "I think your smart enough to figure that out."

Isabella rolled her eyes as she walks towards the direction Carmelita went.

During the walk there she sees two doors at the end of the walkway. To her left she saw five raccoon mannequins, all wearing different costumes. Isabella looked to her right and saw the Cooper van. The trunk was open and surrounding the van were tools and a gas torch inside a bucket. The raccoon spotted a picture of Le Paradox on the wall with three darts in it. One on Le Paradox's forehead, one on his right cheek, and one missed him.

"Ha-ha! That's hilarious!"

Carmelita came out the back with Sly's body in her arms. She seemed to be struggling to Isabella. "Agh... he seemed to be lighter when he was missing some of his parts... obviously..."

"Do you need help?"

"You can close the back doors... I'm taking him to his bed... if he has one in here. I'll be staying with him for the rest of the evening and night. I don't think i'll stay here long after that."

"Okay. Nice knowing you Carmelita."

"Same with you, Sly's sister."

Carmelita smirked at the raccoon as she walks towards Bentley and Murray. "Does Sly have a room?"

"Yes, it's the door on the right behind you."

"Okay... thanks."

The fox carried the unconscious raccoon to the door, kicking it open. She carefully sets him on the blue double mattress bed. She was really cautious with his head. The fox stood beside him, just staring at him. Eventually, her eyes drifted away to see his end table against the wall, a dresser across the bed, and a window on the wall facing her. She crawled in with the raccoon as she covers him with a blanket. She lies her left hand on Sly's chest, her eyes slowly closing.

**. . .**

Isabella closes the back doors of the van as she sees Carmelita carry Sly to one of the doors. She walks towards the turtle, mouse and the hippo. Bentley was having a conversation with Penelope as Murray was eating the chocolates on the table.

"... and next door is my lab, where I carry all the things you and I made. Our other gang member, Dimitri, lives in the apartment but not the same room as us. I need to inform him about us being here..."

"Okay, after we go over there, can we check on the stuff we made?"

"No problem... beautiful."

Penelope giggled as the two left the hideout. Isabella decided to walk to the patio behind the table. Isabella looked out to the astonishing view of the outside. A hotel was right across Isabella's sight, but the thing she observed the most was the Eiffel Tower. "It's so beautiful... but I don't want to go without Sly..."

The raccoon sighs as she leans towards it. "I hope Sly is okay... I wish he would wake up soon... I miss him..."

The sun starts to turn a darker orange as it gets closer to the horizon. Lights start to turn on, Isabella continues to watch the view start to involve more beauty.

* * *

***Wow that took a long time, sorry folks. I had to watch an hour-long video of Paris just to see what it looks like. For those of you who live(d) in Paris or been there, if I'm missing something please tell me. Other than that, I hope you liked it and five more chapters left until the story is complete! Thank you for reading so far!***


	26. Back To Work

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Back To Work**

"So, how was your sleep Isabella? Did seeping in the same room as Murray work out for you?"

The raccoon drifted towards the turtle, rubbing her eyes. Sunlight rays came in from the patio, brightening the area. Bentley was sitting at the table as he was typing in his laptop. Isabella yawned before she replied.

"It was okay... if you call good sleep staying up most of the night to his snoring."

"A heck of a sleeper he is..."

"Bentley, I have to ask you something."

"Ask away."

The raccoon sat in the medal chair next to the turtle, normally the seat Sly would sit in. Her eyes dropped as her mouth frowned. She was facing Bentley as she played with her fingers. "Am I really Sly's sister?"

Bentley's eyes widened, turning himself to the raccoon. "How could you doubt yourself?! I remember Sly telling me how amazing Cooper moves you can do! He was amazed because only a Cooper can make those moves. Of course, he told me this before he knew you were his sister. You can do something amazing with music! Each Cooper had their own unique talent. I believe you are a Cooper, I see many similarities with you and Sly. What stops you from believing you are Sly's sister?"

The raccoon looks at Bentley's eyes, seeing through his cracked glasses.

"It's just... when Sly was disappearing... why didn't I disappear with him?"

"I saw your right ear disappear before you went to take down Penelope. I didn't want to say anything about it until it became serious. I didn't want anyone to draw attention to it or make anyone fuss about it, especially when we were about to stop the problem from happening. You're is back to normal anyway, just like Sly."

Isabella grabbed her right ear and sighed. "Okay I guess..."

Bentley turned back to his laptop but sees a fox close Sly's door as she walks towards his position.

"Good morning sunshine! How was your long sleep after not sleeping for days?"

The fox stopped walking as she rubs her head. "Well, I can feel some relief, other than that... not much different."

"Cool! Well I have food in my lab next door if you want any. Hopefully Murray didn't eat all of it. There's also a bathroom in there as w-"

"I'm leaving, Bentley." Carmelita interrupted.

His eyebrows raised, not expecting Carmelita would say that soon, especially leaving Sly.

"Wait... now?"

"Bentley look at me!"

The fox pointed her hands at her body. "I feel like crap, my hair is a rat's nest, I have dark eye circles..."

She grabs her black dress. "I've been wearing this dress for, what a week now?! I didn't take a shower for that long, I haven't slept in my bed and I'm an Interpol Inspector! People need me! Plus, I can't stand to watch Sly like this anymore. I can't live like that... Please understand Bentley..."

Bentley's face relaxed and nodded in agreement. "We'll contact you if something new happens to Sly..."

She looked down and places her hand on her other arm. Isabella watched Carmelita's actions and expressions as she thought to herself. "Wow, I could only imagine what she's going through..."

Carmelita looked back at Bentley as she shakes her head. "No... please don't. I don't want to be reminded of all this. Don't contact me unless he does wake up. I'll be at work and my home, making my normal living. I can't love anyone else than him, and I can't seem to be one-hundred percent satisfied without him awake. It's better than him gone... Now that I know he's breathing and alive, I can move on... I have to go Bentley."

"Okay..."

"It's actually... a little nice working with you guys..."

The fox looks over to the raccoon. "...and it's really nice meeting you Isabella. I wish you good luck with all of this..."

"You too Carmelita... you too."

"I hope he wakes up soon... Well I guess I'll go now. Say goodbye to Murray for me... I can care less about the rat."

"Goodbye Carmelita." Bentley croaked.

They watched the fox walk into the hallway to open the door. She looked back, her lips moved sideways as she sighs, and left the room closing the door.

Bentley and Isabella looked unhappily at each other. The raccoon looks at all the items on the table. "Where is Penelope anyway?"

Bentley looked at his computer, both of his eyebrows were together, tilting upwards. He made a tired and hopeless tone to his voice as he replied. "Penelope is in the lab, either sleeping or looking around."

"You have a bed there too?"

"Yeah, normally her and I would work all day and night on whatever we were working on together. Eventually at some point we would pass out on the bed. We did have a great relationship... I'd like to have that again. Sly didn't sleep in his bed in the hideout for years. We all really went our own separate ways. We've been together since the orphanage... until we made out our own ways."

"Wow..."

The raccoon looked at the turtle, watching him type on his computer. "Could you tell me times you three had together? I'm a little curious."

His fingers paused as a smile grew on his face. His left hand closed the laptop and turned himself towards the raccoon. "Well, it all started seeing that little eight year old raccoon first enter the orphanage doors..."

**. . .**

Carmelita opened the navy blue door to her house. She entered her house and everything still seemed normal. Her big maroon sofa lies its back against the dark purple wall. In front of it was a stained wooden rectangular coffee table. The sofa was facing a TV about three feet wide and two feet tall. It was black and thin, and stood on top of a wide end table. A window with blue curtains is on the wall facing Carmelita. In the corner next to the TV and window was a dark rose-red recliner. Paintings hung on Carmelita's walls, and the floor was a night sky color rug. There was a grey DVD player next to the TV. This was her living room.

To Carmelita's right was the door to the laundry room. The fox closed the door behind her as she enters the doorway to the left of her. She entered the kitchen, judging from the sink in the top left corner of the room. The sink is built inside a cupboard below it. The counter tops were white marble and the walls are covered in white and black tiles, making a pattern. The right of the sink stood a black oven. To the left of the sink was a shiny dishwasher. The hard floor is made of big white tiles. To the right of Carmelita was a dining table for two. The chairs were black and had bars on the back for the person's back support. The table top was clear and clean, big enough for two people to eat at.

Carmelita rushed out the kitchen through the doorway, in the top right side of the kitchen. In front of Carmelita was the back door of the house. To her right stood a purple wall and to her left was a stair case. "I need to go in the shower before I go to work..."

The fox ran up the dark wooden stairs and entered a bedroom. She had a queen sized bed with a blue blanket. Next to the bed was an end table. On top of it lies the diary Carmelita found and her alarm clock. "Wait... that must be Isabella's diary! It all makes sense now. I should return it someday..."

Two window doors are located on the right wall, next to the bed. Those two doors led out to the patio, which give a view of Carmelita's backyard and other buildings. Next to the left side of the bed is a door that leads to the bathroom. To the left of Carmelita was a dresser that held her uniforms and casual clothing. On top of the dresser was a mirror, jewelry box and a CD player. The fox looked at the bathroom door as she made a sigh escapes her mouth. "I need to go to work..."

***Later* **

The fox has sat in her office for over twenty minutes now and there are still no new files of crime. "I've been gone for a week now and still no crimes? Wow..."

The fox had shiny and clean orange-brown fur. Her long, shiny, and curly blue hair smelled like lilac. She was wearing her normal uniform, boots that almost reached her knees, navy blue skinny jeans, dark blue midriff-baring bra top that zips in the front, blue choker which her Interpol badge hangs from, a light brown leather jacket and yellow gloves. Her tail was slowly, calmly and swiftly waving her tail.

Carmelita saw her work phone on her desk blink. "Five missed calls, and each with a voicemail! Who could that be?"

Carmelita curiously pressed the voicemail button and listened to the messages.

"Hey Carmelita, it's Paxton."

The fox rolled her eyes.

"I just want to see how you're doing... Also I'd like to know if you'll ever return my ro-"

Carmelita skipped the message.

"Just calling again to see what you have done. How's the rock doing? Can you please return it? Is it that hard to do so? Why did you take it?-"

Carmelita started to growl as she skipped another message.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry I got upset with you a while ago. Are we still together? Please answer... I want to know what you did with the rock!"

Carmelita raged with anger as she turned the phone off.

Suddenly, her office door is slammed open, making Carmelita jump in her seat. She turned to see her friend, Rachel. Her big, worried eyes stared at Carmelita as she spoke with an agitated voice.

"Carmelita! I heard from the other officers that they saw you come in! You have been gone for almost a week!"

The tiger went in the room and slammed the door, still looking at Carmelita. "Without any notice you were gone, we were about to send our policemen to find you! Where have you been?!"

Carmelita showed a mild-overwhelmed expression on her face, trying to answer. "Sorry Rachel... I had to... work on important detective work with other policemen. It was such an emergency that I forgot to call in with you guys. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"Really? Paxton told me all about the time you left him. You must've been really angry to take one of his artifacts. I knew you would get hurt again!"

"I left because I got annoyed with him loving his 'precious' artifacts. I never got hurt because of him. When I left his house I was called by...the Interpol headquarter."

"Oh... okay..."

Rachel sighed, calming down a bit. "I'm sorry... for the last time we talked. I'm sorry if I made you too upset. I thought you left because of Paxton and I."

Carmelita smiled at the tiger. "Well I didn't. That would be unprofessional as an Inspector to just leave for that reason. I'm no longer interested in Paxton, and I'm back here for good."

Rachel smiles. "Thanks Carmelita. Oh, you do remember that tomorrow we are celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Interpol, right? You were the one to arrange this party to happen."

Carmelita hit her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes. "Right! I can't believe I forgot! Thank you for reminding me Rachel. I'll be there for it."

"Good!"

The tiger sat on Carmelita's office desk. "So... Paxton is available right?"

"No, he's dating his artifacts."

A little giggle escaped out of Rachel's mouth as she grins. "He didn't seem that bad as a man when we talked. So... tell me more about Paxton..."

* * *

***If you do see any mistakes or I don't explain something good enough, please tell me. Other than that, have fun with this chapter and the next four! You're gonna want to read those. I know the story must be short but I'm making a continuation soon! Four more chapters to go! :D***


	27. Family Reunion

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Family Reunion**

"...Carmelita, Murray and I watched the time machine vanish. I searched for Sly, and so did Carmelita. It's been months after that until Carmelita came to me with Sly's calling card design on a rock with his initials on it. I knew what I had to do and we eventually found you guys."

Bentley just finished talking to Isabella about all the times Sly, Murray, and himself shared together. Isabella smiled at Bentley.

"Wow! You guys did a lot together!"

"So, what if your favorite part?"

"I think the Cookie Stealing Plan was super cute, but I also like when Clockwerk was being defeated. I can't believe what he did to my family, and lived for so long collecting jealousy and hate of the Coopers. I don't understand how someone can live like that... and Neyla... the one who sent me to Le Paradox's family, actually became Clockwerk herself... Clock-La..."

"So are you feeling more confident in yourself being a Cooper?"

"Yeah... it all makes sense... I just wish Sly would wake up so I can go on a heist with you guys. That would be so cool!"

Bentley chuckled to Isabella's statement. "I hope so too... So, you are eight years younger than Sly... According to my calculations, you were negative nine months old when Sly turned eight. Family was attacked, Sly went to the orphanage later that day, and your mother was kept by the Panda King. I don't understand why he didn't mention to us about you, especially when he's part of the team..."

"I would've been just as unhappy as Sly if I had to work with him... the man who killed our father and left our mother die in the snow. I would like to have a word with him, since he's part of the gang."

Isabella gave Bentley a serious face.

"Yeah... but as I was saying, you were born roughly around nine months after Sly turned eight. So that would make you eight years and around nine months younger than Sly. He's twenty-eight now, which that makes you twenty."

"Wow, Sly is old."

"You're twenty, but you look a bit younger than that, my opinion."

"Aw, thanks Bentley!"

Isabella wrapped her arms the turtle, making him chuckle again. Isabella sat back in her seat as she watches the turtle turn to his laptop, about to open it. "You need to get your glasses fixed."

Bentley frowned, looking at his laptop. "Yeah I know... I was just ordering new lenses for my glasses on ThiefNet. I should get it mailed in tomorrow."

"Okay, that's good."

There was a moment of silence until the hideout's door forced open. There stood a mouse, the mouse Bentley absolutely adores. "Hey Bentley! I've looked all around the lab, and I actually adore all the work we made! I can't believe I would make such things!"

Bentley smiled at Penelope as the laptop's light reflected off his glasses. "You and I made a great relationship as well..."

Penelope's smile frowned a little as she closes the door and walks closer to the turtle. "So... since I am in fact the servant, do you want me to clean up around here?"

Bentley slammed his computer shut. "You know what... I don't want you to be the servant anymore! I want you to be my partner in crime again! I want to work with you in the lab like we always did. Please, do you want to do that? I know you might not remember anything, but we were-"

Bentley was interrupted with the mouse's peck on his cheek. The turtle was blushing uncontrollably as she giggled. "Of course Bentley. Where else would I go anyway? Besides, I do like smart men."

"Gee...ahh.. t-thank you Penelo-p-pe..."

The turtle covered his face with his hands, still blushing. His cheekbones and muscles started to ache from smiling for so long. Isabella grinned at the sight as she thought to herself. "Oh Bentley... he can be so evil! Making his lover suffer from amnesia and getting her to love him again?! Wow..."

"Waz up people! Dimitri on the dance floor tonight!"

Isabella watched a purple lizard come in the hideout through the door, and spins himself to close the door. "Imma here to bring style back with my hit single mafia!"

Penelope's face turned disturbed as Dimitri walked closer to the gang. "So who is this Aunt Jemima? She looks familiar to me, but hey! I can't keep track of all da women, HA-HA!"

"Dimitri, this is Penelope. Remember seven years ago, she helped get Sly into his family vault. She worked with you."

"Aw yeah! The one too stubborn to be impressed by my sexy muscle and silky moves!"

"Get over yourself!" exclaimed Penelope.

"You rats are missin' out, on me! Heh-heh."

Bentley slaps his hand against his forehead as Isabella judged the lizard. "So he was a Klaww gang member... and now he's part of the Cooper gang?! What?! I would've picked better people..."

Bentley opened his mouth as he spoke. "So, why are you here Dimitri?"

"I wanted to see how the cracker-box was doing."

Penelope sneered at the lizard. "He's fine, now go away."

"Look bro, I didn't come to hear from you, pig-suited egghead!"

"Alright Dimitri she's sorry. She is right, he's fine but... not awake..."

"Well that makes lots of sense bro!" Dimitri said, sarcastically.

The lizard's eyes met with Isabella's, making him grin. "Who is dis babe?"

Isabella's eyes widened to the name "babe".

Bentley answered, "This is Isabella, Sly's sister."

Dimitri's mouth dropped. "Another one?! Why! The world will be doomed!"

Isabella rolls her eyes as she looks over to the van. Murray was working on the dent the guards made on the van a while ago. He's been working on it for a while now, ever since he woke up. The hippo didn't include himself in the discussion, being too busy to even notice what everyone was talking about. Penelope and Bentley watched the lizard spaz out on the floor in between them.

The raccoon looked behind her to see the sun setting, its orange rays shined into the hideout. The air grew colder and calmer. All Isabella heard now was Dimitri, traffic honking below, and cars driving by each second. The sky was astonishing. The horizon had a dark orange color to it. The sky's color changed the more it escalated. The dark orange color blended in with the light orange. That color blended perfectly with the pink above it. Then, it rose to light purple and gradually became darker as it got higher. The clouds were shaded in with a night sky blue on top of it and the dullest purple on the bottom. It was amazing to Isabella, seeing the sunset so beautiful. Above the clouds was a navy blue color.

All her attention was on the sky. Buildings started to turn their shimmering lights on and streetlights lit up the sidewalks. "Wow... so amazing..."

The raccoon was still sitting in her seat, facing the patio. However, something new catches her attention from the corner of her eye. It was moving, something in the hideout. All her attention was now on Sly's bedroom door, slowly opening. "Oh.. my..."

Isabella's heart skips a beat as she watched a raccoon's foot escape the room, followed by another. His head peeked out the doorway as Isabella sees his right hand hold his forehead. The skin around his eyes tightened and drawn together. His upper eyelid tightened, squinting his eyes. His eyebrows are drawn down and slightly together. He looked a little agitated as he slowly walked out the room. Isabella's eyes widened as she became paralyzed in her seat. On impulse, she yelled out, "Sly?!"

Bentley looked at Isabella who was staring at the raccoon. The turtle looked over to where she was looking, only to see his friend standing in the middle of the room. His mouth dropped as he whispered to himself. "Sly..."

The raccoon rubbed his eyes, eventually opening his eyes to his gang. He watched Dimitri doing a drama scene on the floor and studied everyone there. "What is this?" mumbled Sly.

Without hesitation, Bentley picked himself up into the wheelchair as Murray turns to see his fellow raccoon. "Sly! Buddy!"

"What?"

"Don't overwhelm him Murray! It might be too much for him now!"

Bentley rolled his wheelchair towards the raccoon. "Get back in the room, now! Murray and Isabella, come with me."

Sly's face turned puzzled. "Isabella?"

She ran over to the three as Penelope watched in confusion. Dimitri stopped his tantrum when he noticed everyone was leaving. Sly slowly turned back, still holding his head. He stiffly walked back into his room and tried to sit on his bed.

"Agh... I have a splitting headache... And I feel so light-headed."

Murray and Isabella followed Sly inside as Bentley closed the door. Bentley turned to see Sly sitting on the edge of his bed, bringing his head down. The turtle got up to the raccoon's face as Isabella and Murray anxiously watched.

"Sly, what do you remember last?"

"I... remember... going to sleep with Carmelita in the time machine. We were all asleep, and now I wake up in the hideout... I thought we were in Egypt, the night when we finally reunited."

Bentley's eyes filled with shock as he reached up to grab Sly's shoulders. "So you don't remember anything after that?!"

"Well..." mumbled the raccoon. "I had a weird dream..."

"Explain!"

"Agh! Bentley... too loud."

The turtle let go of Sly's shoulders as his voice softens up. "Sorry... please explain the dream."

"Well... weird thing... my right hand started to disappear, following with more of my parts. You said it was about... the Cooper Line being erased again. We went to see... Slytunkhamen's house... The Cooper Ruins... then we escaped, Penelope was there keeping the gang apart, hurting you guys. Wait, why did I see her at the table a minute ago?!"

"I'll explain, just continue."

"Well, then she started saying... weird things... that Marta was-"

"Actually your sister, real name was Isabella Cooper, and explained about your mom being pregnant with me the day The Fiendish Five came..." The raccoon finished his sentence. "Yeah Sly... it wasn't a dream. That actually happened..."

Sly stared at Isabella with stunned eyes. He is taken aback as he spoke. "Holy CRAP! That actually happened!? Is it all true?!"

Bentley smiled as he answered. "Yes Sly, Marta is Isabella Cooper, your sister."

Sly grinned at Isabella. "I have a sister... wow..."

Although that grin quickly faded away as he looks back at Bentley. "Wait, is Carmelita okay?! Where is she?! I saw her last being tied by these guards... and you still need to explain the mouse!"

"Yes, Carmelita is fine. She returned to Interpol, she really took it rough."

"Yeah!" Isabella agreed. "She was a complete wreck. She saw you disappear completely, you didn't appear for days and she wouldn't eat or sleep until she saw you again."

"Oh no..."

Bentley continued the conversation. "We had to solve the problem by preventing Penelope to talk to the Pharaoh... I decided to..."

Bentley's voice lowered, whispering to the raccoon. "...make her forget everything with a device I made. She's staying with her thinking I'm her partner in crime. It worked! She doesn't remember anything, and I think she's falling for me..." The turtle interrupted himself with a giggle. "...again."

Sly opened his mouth, smirking a little. "You are worse than me!"

The turtle laughed again. "Yeah, at occasions you can say that."

Sly's face turned worried again. "So what happened to me after I disappeared completely? What did Carmelita do?"

Isabella answered this question.

"Eventually you reappeared and we took you to Paris. She carried you to your bed and stayed there with you for the night. She left this morning... She couldn't bear to not see you awake. She was just... depressed..."

Sly frowned, his eyes falling down. "Man... I can't believe she went through that... well... did you see Paris?"

"Yeah! It was so beautiful Sly!"

Sly's face brightened up. "So, did you explore the place?"

"No... not without you..."

Sly grinned. "Well sis, I do remember telling you I would show you around... You wanna go tonight? Have a... family reunion?"

Isabella's mouth opened with excitement as she wrapped her arms around Sly. "I'D LOVE TO!"

"Ouch..."

Bentley made a cautious expression. "Maybe we all should go easy on Sly's head... be careful when you guys go out."

Isabella let go of her brother as he tries to stand up. "Let's go, like I promised."

Isabella opened Sly's bedroom door as the four left. "Yo Sly! What's shakin' bacon!?"

Penelope didn't say a word, mainly paying attention to Bentley.

"Just waking up from a long sleep Dimitri." Sly said.

Bentley met eyes with his beloved mouse. "Penelope, this is Sly... Sly Coon. He's Isabella's brother."

Sly threw Bentley a confused look. "Coon?"

"Shh, I don't want her knowing about you being a Cooper, do you understand why?"

"Oh... okay I get it."

Penelope, looking at Sly, quickly replied. "Hello Sly."

"Hey Penelope... Uh I'm just going to go out for a while with my sister now..."

Dimitri scolded at Sly. "I never knew there were two of you! Why didn't you tell me bro?!"

The raccoon giggled. "That's because I didn't find out until now."

"You 'coons are serious nut jobs! Dimitri out!"

The lizard held his hands up as he left from the door.

"Okay... well see ya!"

Sly walked on the patio, followed by Isabella.

Bentley yelled out. "Be careful! And don't stay out too long!"

"Okay mom..." Sly sardonically remarked.

Sly climbed up on top of the roof, since it was only around ten feet above him. "C'mon Cooper! Join me!"

Isabella effortlessly met with Sly. She was standing on the roof, observing the night sky. It was a dark navy blue color, clouds were almost black, and no sunlight was found. Billions of stars filled the sky, with only a couple of clouds floating around. Lights shined everywhere, car's headlights, window lights, street light, and especially the great Eiffel Tower. Sly glanced over to his sister, watching her amazement towards the area.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The little raccoon smiled. "Yeah..."

"A Cooper's best friend is a rooftop. You get to see the astonishing view and guards won't find you. It's amazing and helpful."

"Oh..."

"Well, let's go over to the Eiffel tower. The view from up top is very cool."

The two arrived at the grassy area in front of the enormous tower. Each light on the tower looked like a shiny piece of gold. The raccoons saw other people sit in front of it, watching its glorious beauty. Trees evenly outlined the area surrounding the tower as a street light shined on each tree.

The Eiffel Tower looked like a huge and golden miniature of itself. Isabella thought it was too beautiful to be real.

"Well what are you waiting for!" Sly exclaimed. "Let's climb up to the top!"

Isabella easily climbed the tower like she was going up a ladder as Sly followed her. The two climbed higher and higher, almost at the top. Sly started to slow down, making Isabella look behind her. "Come on old man! We're almost there!"

Sly's head was throbbing, making Sly stop climbing. His sister climbed down to his level, having a worried look on her face. "Y-you okay?"

"Yeah... I just need a moment... my head hurts a little."

"Maybe we should've let you stay at the hideout..."

"Agh..."

Sly slowly climbed up, Isabella climbing with him. "Don't fall on me Sly... we're almost there..."

Isabella's brother grunted with each step he took.

The raccoons eventually made it to the top, Isabella helping Sly up. He sat down as Isabella remained to stand, both tightly gripping on the long antenna spire of the tower. Isabella looked down and viewed the city. Buildings looked as small as ants to the raccoon. The roads were as thin as sticks, tiny lights shining over it. The buildings' windows looked like a cluttered amount of lights. Cars weren't even visible to Isabella's eyes. All the raccoon heard was the breeze passing by and Sly's low and warming voice.

"You have Mom's eyes... I knew they looked familiar to me..."

Isabella glances over to Sly shining over it. The buildings' windows looked like a cluttered amount of lights. Cars weren't even visible to Isabella's eyes. All the raccoon heard was the breeze passing by and Sly's low and warming voice.

"You have Mom's eyes... I knew they looked familiar to me..."

Isabella glances over to Sly and sits next to him.

"Sly... What was Mom and Dad like?"

"Well... Mom was very intelligent and happy, normally calm too. She would read to herself, listen to classical music, and always keep the house clean. She worked as an elementary teacher, I think she taught second graders. She loved kids. At night she would always tell me stories about her and Dad. She was really into romance... I guess I got that from her. She taught me how to treat everyone correctly, whether it's love interest or complete strangers. Mom always told me to follow my dreams and stick with it, even if it's not to steal. I've always followed that advise ever since..."

"What is your dream Sly?"

"My beautiful Carmelita... Mom taught me how to love... to have a heart."

Isabella looked at the raccoon and smiled. "That's... adorable."

"Yeah. Dad was a little strict and could be uncaring at times. He would leave others to do what he wanted to do. He was really good to me, as he would always read my favorite book to me, the Thievius Raccoonus. He was confident in me of someday proving myself as a Cooper. We would always play together. Although, he wasn't really a good friend to his gang back in the day."

"Yeah... Bentley told me about Dr. M..."

"Yeah... he did mess around a lot and made a lot of sarcastic remarks, that's probably where I get that from. Inside he was a good man and serious about his family name. I remember him taking me to a museum in Italy when I was just three years old. He was a good father..."

Sly looked down in disappointment. Isabella moved closer to him as he puts his right arm on her shoulders.

"It's okay Sly... they're still alive but inside of us. We are the only Coopers left, we have each of personalities. We are a mix of their flesh and blood. Try to think of it that way..."

Sly smirked, still looking down. "Every time I go steal something, I always think to myself, 'Boy, Dad would be so proud of me if I did this.' Every time I love up on Carmelita, I always say, 'I am following my dreams, and I'll never let go of her.' Carmelita and I both fight for justice, just on opposite sides of the law. I know she won't quit being a cop just to stay with a thief. She LOVES her job, and I have to respect that. I tried quitting my thieving work and work on her side, but it wasn't me. I had the desire to steal like my Dad, but love like my Mom."

"Ah, a perfect mix huh?"

"Yeah, but very complicated... trust me. Anyways, almost anything I do, I feel like my parents watch over me. That's what keeps me going..."

"Wow Sly... I wish I knew them..."

The little raccoon yawned, making Sly look at her.

"You getting tired?"

Isabella nodded to Sly's question. "Thank you for taking me here, for letting me explore."

"I know we will do more of it together... now let's go back to the hideout. It's getting late."

"Is your head feeling better?"

Sly stood up, smirking at Isabella. "We'll see. Hop on my back, we'll parachute down."

Sly took out one of his parachutes out his red back pack before Isabella climbed on his back. "Hold on tight."

Sly jumped off the Eiffel Tower as he and his sister soared through the cooling Paris sky, gradually getting closer to the ground.

***Safe house***

Sly set his little sister on his bed and covers her with the blanket. The resting raccoon opened her eyes as her voice escaped her mouth, sounding thick. "Aren't you going to sleep too?"

"Don't you think I had enough sleep already?"

Sly put his fingers through her hair as he smirks at her. She slowly closes her exhausted eyes as Sly bends over to kiss her on the forehead. "Goodnight Isabella. I love you."

She smiled and replied. "I love you too Sly."

He left the room and closed the door behind him. He sees Bentley and Murray at the table. Bentley is playing with Penelope's blond hair as she sits on his legs. Murray is eating a sprinkle and cream donut in his seat. The raccoon smiles at them and looks at Murray. "Hey big buy... getting tired?"

Murray looks at Sly confusingly as he shakes his head.

"Good, because I'm going to need your help with some 'shopping'."

* * *

***I enjoyed typing this one, I really did. It's about time he woke up right?! This is my second longest chapter I made! I can't wait to read it, I'm with you! XD Since this is my first fanfic, I decided to look over my whole story before making it official (doing that now...done). I think I should add more detail in the beginning. I feel like I rushed the first ten chapters so once I'm done with the story I'll get back on the beginning (already did that so if you didn't read the story while it was in progress, don't bother looking again). I hope you enjoy the story so far (I certainly do)! Thanks for supporting me! Let's see how it ends!***


	28. What a Relationship

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: What a Relationship...**

It's 4:22 in the morning as Carmelita finished taking her daily shower. She's getting ready for another day of work. She's been thinking to herself, not really happy since the day Sly disappeared. Her hand grabs and turns the doorknob of the bathroom door, opening it. Steam from the room escaped into the fox's bedroom. Cooler air hit Carmelita's stressed face.

Carmelita's barefoot steps on her dark rich purple rug, her body covered in a pearly white bathrobe. Her dark, shiny, blue and damp hair ended at her tail. Thanks to the water, it was no longer curly... but straight.

She walked towards her dresser and looks at herself in the mirror. "C'mon Carmelita... try to brighten up. Today's the party, try to have fun with Rachel... Try to be happy..."

"How can a party be fun without me?"

The fox's eyebrows shot up, eyes peeled open, her mouth opened wide as she gasps with shock. "Could it be?" thought Carmelita. "The low, teasing, and beautiful voice I haven't heard in forever?! Please be..."

Her whole body turned without delay, facing her beloved raccoon. He was standing on the patio behind the open window doors. He was holding his cane as a smirk is written upon his face. "S-Sly!"

Her feet ran towards him, making her body collide with his. Her arms automatically wrapped around his waist as she feels the urge to cry. Carmelita's hands feel the raccoon's back. "You're okay..." Her head bashes into his chest, bringing Sly's head back.

Sly covers is head as he closes his eyes, dropping the cane. "Ouch... watch my head..."

She stepped away from him. "I'm so happy you're awake again! I thought the day would never come..."

The fox slowly and carefully hugged him again, releasing a tear. Her eyebrows were drawn together as her lips tightened. Sly opened his eyes and calmly places his hands around her. "I had to wake up just to see your beautiful face again. Things like that I can't miss a second of."

Unfortunately this made the fox growl, gritting her teeth as her eyes shot open. She stomped on Sly's left foot and backed away from him, looking at him darkly. Sly's eyes widened as he grabs his foot. "What was that for?!"

"You said you wouldn't leave me... you did!"

The raccoon dolefully looks at his love. "I'm sorry Carmelita... I heard all about it... you were going through a lot when I was gone..."

She sat on her bed with her downcast eyes. Her voice was more quiet this time. "I was the only one who watched you fully disappear... yo-y..."

The fox tried to fight back her own tears, making Sly slowly drop his foot. "I-I... I c-couldn't... survive... until I-I s-saw you again... I was scarred... I-I... love you Sly... and you l-lef-ft... I didn't... care what happened to me at that point... I..."

Sly walked closer to the fox and places his hands on her cheeks. He gently kisses her forehead as she releases more tears. "It won't happen again. The problem is solved... I'm sorry you had to go through that..."

The fox deeply inhales and gives out an exhausted sigh. She looks up at Sly and smiles. "I'm just overjoyed to see you alive and awake... So what have you done since you've woken up?"

Sly removes his hands from her face. "Well I've taken Isabella out to explore what she should've a long time ago..."

"How was that like, to spend time with a family member you never known...?"

"It... makes me happier. She looks a lot like mom too... I also went 'shopping' with Murray." The raccoon bent his two fingers, air quoting at the word shopping.

The fox slammed her fists on the bed, sternly yelling at Sly. Her eyebrows lowered as she spoke. "Dammit ringtail! I'm going to hear this in about an hour from now!"

The raccoon chuckled at Carmelita's anger. "It's okay beautiful... now did I hear something about a party?"

Carmelita shook her head, rolling her eyes as she smiles. "Yes, It's the 90th Anniversary celebration of Interpol, and no... thieves are not invited." The fox giggles.

"Man! Well can I come in as Constable Cooper? Just like the good ol' days, don't you agree?"

The fox's smile drops, looking serious at Sly. "But... I want you to be who you are... I can't change you Sly... You want to steal. I can't force you to be who you're not... I'm in love with you, Sly Cooper... not Constable Cooper... you are born as Sly Cooper... I can't change that..."

The fox stood up and hugged her raccoon.

Sly smiled, his left hand on the back of her head and his right hand on her back. "I was also born to be with you... we will make this work my love... I need you just like you need me. We share a relationship that no one else understands. I love you Carmelita... Plus, thieving isn't fun without Inspector Fox."

The fox looks up to the thief mischievously. "Busting criminals aren't as fun as trying to bust Sly Cooper."

"You see? We need each other, we will make this work! I promise that."

"Okay... I hope we do... I want to love you, just not ALWAYS with my gun..."

The raccoon laughed. "I agree with that one! So, is Constable Cooper invited to this celebration of Interpol?"

"As long as he dresses nicely and is on time, he can. It's at 9:00 tonight, tell him to not be late."

"He won't be."

Carmelita backs away from the raccoon. "Well, I need to get ready for work... I guess I'll see you later."

"Definitely... and Carmelita?"

"Yes?"

The raccoon nervously looked down and back at her, smiling.

"Will you go out with me, again?"

The fox walked up to him and grabbed him by his blue shirt. He was preparing for something bad, but instead got, "I thought that already happened."

Carmelita pulled Sly closer to her and kisses him on the lips once more. This was Carmelita's first kiss she has GIVEN to this raccoon. He became surprised she gave him one, but in his nature he accepted it. He pulled her closer as the two kissed repeatedly. Their lips were kissing over and over, gentle, with a little roughness to it. The mouths kept closing and opening again, just kissing. Carmelita stopped to speak.

"I love you Sly..."

"I love you too Carmelita..."

Their lips started to wrestle again, until the fox realized something. She pulls herself away from Sly. "I almost forgot!"

She walked over to the end table next to her bed as Sly curiously looks at her. She turns back to Sly with a book in her hand. "I believe this belongs to Isabella. I found this floating around in the lake that the time machine vanished above. It surprisingly survived..."

Sly smiles at the book. "Yeah, this has to be hers. I'm sure she'd like it back." His eyes moved to Carmelita. "Thanks Carmelita. She'll be happy she got this."

"No problem. She supported me a lot when you were gone. She deserves it back."

Carmelita pushes Sly's left arm. "Now go! I need to get ready for work!"

Sly adjusts his blue hat. "Sure thing. I'll see you at nine!" Sly bends over to pick up his cane.

Carmelita smiled as she watched the raccoon wave to her, and then jumping down. She rushes out to her patio and sees her beloved raccoon run on rooftops, heading his way back to the hideout. The sky was still dark, but you can start to see the horizon turn a brighter blue. Cars drive endlessly on the road, street lights still glisten in the dark, and the quiet breeze calms Carmelita. She smiles as great inhale expands her lungs, and further escapes. "Tonight will be great..."

* * *

***Aw, romance! I loved writing this one! Thank you for reading and/or reviewing so far! I hope you enjoy if and get ready for the last two chapters!***


	29. Happy Birthday

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Happy Birthday!**

The bright sun shined in Sly's bedroom through the window. Isabella's body lies on her brother's bed, covered with his blue blanket. It's almost 9:30 in the morning as Isabella Cooper is sound asleep.

Birds are chirping from the outside and car engines are heard roaming in the road.

"Ouch! I got a paper cut!"

Isabella's eyes slowly opened, rubbing her eyes.

"Shh Murray. You'll wake her up! Now hand me the tape."

"But Sly! It hurts!"

Isabella hears Sly give out a loud sigh and speaks again. "Bentley, can you give Murray a Band-Aid. C'mon guys, we're almost done here. Bear with me."

Isabella heard Bentley talk in an exhausted tone. "Sly, we're tired. We didn't sleep for days like you. Murray and I have been up all night. Look I'll get the Band-Aid for Murray, but I'm going to rest after this."

The raccoon sat up in the bed, squinting her eyes from the sunlight. The window was on the right of her, almost blinding her. "What are they... talking about?"

Isabella slowly swung her feet on the ground as she hear more voices. "Okay Murray. I-" the turtle yawned. "got... the band-aid. Are you done with wrapping it Sly?"

"Yes, I just need to tape this side real quick and I think that's it!"

Isabella stood up, rubbing her eyes as she sluggishly walks towards Sly's bedroom door. Her short brown hair is messed up but her face looked well rested. The raccoon grabs the doorknob, making her hear whispers. "Places now, she's up!"

She walks out of the room, seeing no one in sight. Isabella became confused as she drifted pass the five mannequins each wearing costumes to her right. "Sly?" the raccoon croaked. "Murray? Bentley?"

She looks over to the Ping-Pong table, covered in purple and blue pieces of wrapping paper, a couple of scissors, various tools such as hammers and screwdrivers, and crayons. Warm sunlight from the patio shined on them.

She looked to her right and suddenly hears, "SURPRISE! Happy Birthday!"

The raccoon smirked at her brother who was behind the table, Murray who was behind a big blue box, and Bentley sitting beside the box. The box covered in blue wrapping paper was a foot wider than Murray and taller than Bentley. Two other boxes about the same size lie on top of the box, covered in purple wrapping paper. One of those boxes was three inches in height, width of nine inches, and length of sixteen inches. The other only had a longer length. The raccoon giggles, "What is this?"

Sly walked over to the presents, standing next to Murray. "I've decided to give you birthday presents that you never got... Murray and Bentley helped as well to make this day special for you. I'd prefer you open the blue one first sis."

"WAIT!" the hippo bellowed. "I want to give her this first!"

Murray had enthusiasm in the way he walked towards the raccoon. He held a piece of paper in his right hand as he holds it out. "I drew it for you, I hope you like it."

Isabella's eyes glared at the paper, making her smile. It was drawn and colored in crayon and had the gang smiling. Murray wearing his sky blue shirt, belt, towel around his neck, and flaming mask was standing in the far left corner. To his right stood Carmelita wearing her black dress as she holds hands with Sly. Sly was wearing his normal clothes, blue mid-sleeved shirt, yellow collar, blue gloves with yellow cuffs, his mask, and his blue peasants cap. You couldn't see further down, Isabella's body in front of his chest. She was wearing her normal clothes, black t-shirt and dark capris. Her legs were cut off from the end of the paper. Sly's left hand gripped on his cane. Bentley sat in his wheelchair in front of Murray and Carmelita. Penelope was sitting on Bentley's lap as she is kissing her beloved turtle's cheek. Three little hearts were drawn above Penelope's head.

Isabella liked Murray's effort and caring for drawing her this. "Thank you Murray!"

She wraps her arms around the hippo as she wakes up a little more. Now, she thinks overjoyed thoughts about the gang. "I love these guys. I am so happy I'm with a family that treats me right. I don't want to miss a day without Bentley's brains, Murray's strength but cute personality, and Sly... my brother... all this time loving the Cooper moves, loving what the gang does, now... I'm part of that! I'm Sly's sister... a person who shares the same parents as me... he is so perfect. I bet my mom tried helping me to reunite with Sly. I wanted to leave the blimp that day, but something told me I shouldn't. This is the best family yet..."

Isabella let go of Murray, feeling a little tearful. "I love you guys..."

Sly smiled. "You say that now? Wait 'til you see your presents! Open the blue one!"

Sly grabbed the purple boxes off of the big box. Isabella walks over to the box as she tears the blue wrapping paper. Bentley's tired eyes watches the raccoon, although smiles. All the wrapping paper is off the box. Isabella enjoyed opening the box, since this was her first present given to her. She opens the cardboard box to her very own piano. It was shiny and brand new. The piano keys were in good condition. Isabella gives out a loud yet happy shriek.

"NO FLIPPIN' WAY! I ALWAYS WANTED TO PLAY THE PIANO! B-but h-"

"I remember you mentioning that, the second day we've known each other. You said that when you were showing me around in your room. Ring a bell?"

"Sly! You are the best!"

"Hey, I couldn't have done it without Murray. He helped me carry it in here after we _'bought'_ it last night."

Sly italicized at the word bought. "Where do you want the piano?"

"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S IN FRONT OF ME!"

The little raccoon jumped with excitement, making Sly smirk. She ran towards the piano, observing and feeling it. The keys were very smooth, along with the top of the piano.

"There's not really enough room in my bedroom..." Sly thought out loud. "...but we can put it over there, behind Bentley.

Sly was pointing to the area to the right of the patio door. "Murray, can you ple-"

"No worries, for The Murray will finish this quest EPICALLY AND RADICALLY!"

The hippo's statement made Isabella laugh. Murray picks up the piano and trembles over to the corner Sly pointed at. He makes a lot of huffing sounds getting over there but safely sets the instrument down. "There we go... now what do I do with the cardboard and wrapping paper?"

"Just leave it for now." assured Bentley. "We'll take care of it later. Sly, continue..."

"Right." smiled Sly. He hands out one of the purple wrapped boxes to his sister.

"These last two boxes... will probably mean the most to you... and me."

Isabella pulled the box out of Sly's hand. Without delay, she opened ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the top of the rectangular box. "Oh my... gosh... Sly."

The raccoon pulls out an amethyst colored mid-sleeved 'v' neck shirt, a collar on it like Sly only black, purple gloves with black cuffs, dark red backpack, black shorts, a rose-red belt with a purple Cooper symbol on the front, and her very own thieving mask. "Sly... it's... perfect..."

"I'd like to see you put it on but you must open your last one."

"Wh... what could be any better than all this?"

The little raccoon was given her last present, having tears in her eyes as she tries to open it. She lifts the top of the box and...

when she sees it...

She immediately sheds tears as her hands cover her mouth. Her eyebrows moved together as she closes her eyes to cry. In the box lies a black keytar with a Cooper hook as the handle. "A cane! My... very own cane!"

Sly walks over to his sister as she cries even more. She cries with a huge smile on her face as he whispers to Isabella. "Why don't you put these clothes on and play a couple tunes with your new cane?"

Her body went straight into his arms, whispers escaping her mouth. "I love you Sly..."

"I love you too Isabella..."

The two disconnected each other as Sly continues. "Bentley helped me with this one. He made it slightly thinner than a normal keytar, thanks to his technology so you can move easier. It's supposed to do something cool too, we will all see once you play. Thank Bentley for this one, he stayed up all night making it."

"Thanks Bentley!"

Isabella wipes the tears off her cheeks and sniffs. "Thank you all! I couldn't have better friends... better family. I am so thankful to have you guys in my life."

Everyone there smiles, especially Murray. The hippo crushes the little raccoon and picks her off the ground. A powerful hug she was given, but laughs with his squeezing love. He swings her around before letting her go as Sly hands his sister the box of her new clothes and accessories.

"Put these on. I want to see what you look like!"

"Yeah!"

Isabella dashed out of the room with her new clothes and entered Sly's bedroom.

She comes out three minutes later, seeing Sly talk with Bentley and Murray. "So I plan on doing that."

"Are you crazy?!" yelled Bentley.

"Hey, I do owe her, I need to go tonight."

Isabella smirked as she speaks out loud. "So, how do I look guys?"

The three glanced at the raccoon, making Sly's eyes widen. "She looks so... beautiful." he thought. "She looks so much like... Mom..."

Sly smiled to his sister, speaking in a calm tone. "It's perfect. You look like a Cooper."

Isabella giggled and reached for the keytar. She put the leather shoulder strap around her, but questions it. "Why is there a latch on the back of the shoulder strap?"

"You could attach your flute to the strap. That way you can switch instruments to change the mood, however you do that. You can slide the keytar on your back and the flute will be in front of you, ready to grab."

"Nice thinking Bentley! Wow you're awesome!"

"I know..."

"So!" Sly said as he clapped his hands together. "Let's hear some tunes. You know how to play that thing, right?"

Isabella rolled her eyes, grinning. "Of course, just like a piano! I read about how a piano works, just preparing to play it someday."

"Okay then, play away!"

The raccoon gripped the handle right below the hook with her left hand and places her right hand on the keys. She presses the keys, making an electric guitar sound. Her fingers rapidly pushed the keys she desired and switched to a techno sound, making the song more energetic and exciting. Everyone, including Isabella looked at the hook. The sound waves seem to be in all different colors as it collects in the hook opening. Isabella kept playing but suddenly, the ball of sound waves glow up in a blinding white and spreads throughout the hideout. The sound waves passed through the three, absorbing in them as they start to see visions.

Isabella was flabbergasted to see the amazing power the cane made. "They must be seeing their memories now, I wonder what they see. Why doesn't it work on me? Oh well, this is fun! If I do go to jobs with these guys, my music would be super helpful, maybe distracting guards or anything that will stop us."

The raccoon's tail sways in the air and her fingers stopped moving. She watches Sly, Murray, and Bentley stare in space as she slides the keytar behind her. Sly was the first who snapped out of his trance, smirking. "You have quite a gift... There's no doubt you are a Cooper."

Isabella and Sly hear the hideout's door slam open, hearing a familiar voice. "Bentley! Are you here? I want to spent time with my wonderful turtle!"

The door closes and Penelope enters the room. Bentley snaps out of his vision and smirks at the mouse. "I'd love to, but I'm extremely fatigued at the moment."

Murray blinks his eyes as he looks at the gang. Bentley glances over to Sly. "I've done a lot of thinking while making the cane, and even before that... maybe we aren't ready to retire or split just yet. Plus, we need to include your sister with jobs as well. It seems worthy of note."

"I AGREE!" yells Murray.

"I suggest we start tonight, after I take a nap."

Sly had a little problem with that. "Well, we could go after I'm done with the party of Interpol."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. When will it end?"

"I don't know when it ends but I'll make a rendezvous. Now you two should get some rest. I'll wake you up when I'm ready to go."

Without saying a word, Bentley crawled into his shell, leaving his new glasses and pith helmet behind. The shell lies on the wheelchair as Murray walks down the hallway and goes in through the left door. Penelope just stood there watching the turtle as Sly looks over to Isabella. She looks back at Sly, who seemed to take off his red back pack. "I almost forgot!"

The raccoon pulls out a book and hands it to Isabella. The book looks very familiar to her. "It's my diary! How did you find it?"

"Actually Carmelita found it while we were gone. She wanted me to give it to you. This is Carmelita's present to you."

"Oh... thank you! Will I get to see her again?"

"Without a doubt."

The little raccoon hugs Sly, pressing her right cheek against his chest. "Thank you Sly..."

"Hey no problem. Now I think you might want to practice on your new piano, don't you?"

"Heck yeah!"

"Go ahead, I'll start getting ready for my big date."

* * *

***Get ready ladies and gentleman for the very last chapter of this Fanfiction story of mine! It's coming up next :)***


	30. Happy Ending

**Chapter Thirty: Happy Ending**

"Remember, pick me up at the rendezvous. We'll start a plan there."

Sly was nicely dressed in his tuxedo, sitting in the passenger seat of the Cooper van. He wasn't wearing a mask, his casual clothes, or holding his cane. Instead, Sly anxiously looks at his watch every minute. "It's four minutes to nine! Murray are we almost there?"

"I'm trying the best I can Sly. I just woke up."

Bentley, Isabella, and Penelope sat in the back, watching the nervous raccoon. Penelope and Bentley were holding hands as Isabella observed Sly. "What are you so nervous for? It's just a party."

Sly looked back at his sister. "Look, Carmelita is expecting me to be on time... I don't want to ruin..." Sly looks down, stuttering until he said, "...tonight. Besides, I have to act like I'm a cop again, I haven't done that for a while now."

Murray stops the van in front of a building.

It was too dark to see the color but it kind of had an appealing look to it. It was made out of a light-colored brick, and the outline of the bricks were black. Two windows are on the front of the wide but short building. Sly can see the inside of the building, not really seeing a party. This was the chosen place for the anniversary celebration to occur.

"Everything will be okay." Bentley said to Sly. "Now go in and have a blast! Sly..."

The raccoon turned over to the turtle. "Yeah...?"

"Good luck..."

Sly opened the van door and came out, giving his gang a very last look before they drove away. He faced the building and nervously fixed his red bow tie, taking a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I can do this. I will walk up to her, have a great time, make her happy, and try to p-"

"Constable Cooper? Is that you?"

A tiger interrupted Sly's thoughts as she walks up to the raccoon.

She was wearing a black a-line dress with a dark golden outline on the bottom. The dress cut at the bottom made an upside down "v" as it goes to the back. The inside of the dress was also golden and two thin, parallel, and golden stripes run across her stomach. The front side ending of the dress ended on her knees. The back ending of the dress ended at her feet. Her slim orange and black striped legs showed, along with her feet. She wore tall black heels and her long, silk, dark chocolate hair was straight. Her hair went down to her hips as her hair was covered in many flower hair clips. Mascara, eyeliner, dark red lipstick, and sparkly golden eyeshadow was applied to her face. She was holding a black mini purse and wore golden earrings and bracelets. She didn't look too happy at the raccoon as her hazel eyes darkly stared at him.

The raccoon smirked at the tiger as he spoke. "Yes, long time no see Officer Rachel Bur-"

Rachel's hand swung in the air, meeting with Sly's right side of the face. The force of the slap threw the face to his left. The tiger gritted her teeth, "You hurt Carmelita you bastard!"

Constable Cooped rubs his right cheek as he frowns questionably to Rachel. "What?"

"She was so depressed for like, eight months! Carmelita told me it was about you, so I assumed you broke up with her. I don't know what happened between you two, but one thing I do know... YOU were the reason she was upset!"

Sly held his hands in front of him, big eyed. "Yes... we did break up... yes, it was because of me... But we talked it out and now, we are dating again."

"WHAT?!"

"Let's handle this inside, shall we?"

The fuming tiger and calm raccoon left the starry night and entered in through the door. "Woah..."

It wasn't the party, just the waiting room. The walls were painted an emerald-green color and a couple waiting chairs lie against the wall. The area was fairly lit and very fancy. Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling and each of the top two corners had a doorway. Sly stood on an ocean blue rug as he spots a service desk in front of him. It was a small room.

As the raccoon walks over to the desk, the tiger follows him. "When did this 'dating' take place?!"

"Early this morning."

"Jeez! She didn't bother to tell me at work!"

Sly walks up to desk and sees a pig dressed in casual clothing sitting behind it. His sky blue shirt was covered in dirt and stains and his pants were wrinkled. His eyes were bloodshot red and his teeth were crooked and yellow. A computer sat in front of his face, looking grumpy as ever. "Excuse me sir? Where is the Interpol anniversary party?"

The man croaked angrily at Sly. "What's ya name scrawny rat?"

"Sl- *cough* Constable Cooper."

"Dammit." thought Sly. "I never mess up with things like this. I guess I'm a little nervous... how and what should I say for the p-"

"Constable Cooper, eh? Lemme check da list if ya on it."

The pig looks over to the tiger, smirking at her body. "And who iz dis pretty lady?"

She rolled her eyes and crosses her arms. "Officer Rachel Burns."

"Heh-heh, you an officer? Damn, you must be-"

"Just look up his and my name! I don't have time your gross compliments!"

The pig sneered and picks up the checklist.

His eyes scroll the list. "Ehm.. no... uhm.. AHA! Found Rachel Burns, but no 'Constable Cooper'"

The pig mocked the name and looks over to Sly. "Sorry, better luck next time. The pretty lady can go."

Sly's eyes widened. "But Inspector Fox invited me this morning! She must've forgotten to put my name on it. Please understand-"

"No name, no party."

Sly pulls out an officer badge Carmelita gave him when they dated seven years ago and shows it to the pig. "I need to get in, I'm part of Interpol!"

"Look 'coon, I'm bein' payed to make sure da ones with their names written on dis paper iz da only ones who enters that doorway."

The pig points to the left doorway, still looking at the raccoon.

"Da lady may stay, you must go."

"Listen swine!" yelled Rachel. "This was under late notice! He's a constable for crying out loud! He even showed you the badge. He's with me, and don't you dare not accept, for you are dealing with police here!"

The pig gave out a sigh. "Fine. Have fun flatfoot."

The two walked into the party as Sly talked to Rachel. "Thanks for back there. I like that attitude you gave."

Rachel grumbled at Sly. "I hate you."

"I do have that effect on many people..."

Sly looks around the area. To his right he sees a long and thing table full of food. In front of the raccoon is a smaller table full of snacks like original chips, pretzels, a plate of vegetables and dip, and fruits. Mini plates and silverware aside the snacks. Drinks like wine, water, and pop sit next to the stack of glass and plastic cups. That table sits next to the wall. Circular tables, fifteen of them, surround the big dance floor. A stage is at the far right of where Sly stands and the room is a little dim. A microphone stands on the stage as a band of five play their instrumental music. Two candles sit in the middle of each table and one crystal chandelier hangs from the middle of the ceiling.

Carmelita is nowhere to be found, but Sly spots a couple ordinary and Interpol officers. Everyone there dressed formally. Lt. Gronk and his (alive and remaining) mercenaries filled six tables. Inspector Barkley walks around and talks to the officers as An otter, Detective Winthorp sits alone at a table. He enjoys the music being played on stage. Finally, a mix of officers, mainly tigers, jaguars, wolves, foxes, and hyenas filled the rest of the tables but one.

Sly smirks at Rachel.

"Looks like there's only one table left."

"Just don't talk to me."

The two walk over to the circular table. The tablecloth was silky grape purple and two candles burned in the middle. There where four cushioned seats at each table.

Sly doesn't bother to sit down, still looking around for his love. "Hey Rachel, have any idea where Carm may be?"

The tiger sits down in a chair and gives Sly a nasty look. "What did I tell you? Don't talk to me! I hate you for what you did to Carmelita, and all I hope is for her to be happy and NOT GET HURT AGAIN!"

Inspector Barkley looks over to the two as Rachel sighs. "I don't know where she is, maybe she's just not here yet."

Sly worriedly walks to the snack and beverage table and pours himself a glass of water. The raccoon suddenly turns to a badger smiling at him with his teeth. His voice was low and old as he happily speaks with the raccoon. "Ah, Constable Cooper! Long time no see, heh-heh!"

"Inspector Barkley..! You too!"

Sly starts to calm down a bit.

"So, what made you gone for so long? Inspector Fox wouldn't tell me a thing!"

"It's kind of... a long story. I'm sorry to change the subject so quickly but do you know where Carmelita is, by any chance?"

"Last thing she told me, she was going out to buy more food. The gorilla's are eatin' like pigs heh-heh! She should be back any minute. Are you two still datin'?"

"Yes..."

"Ah, good man you are. Romance takes me back in the day when I was a cub."

The badger talks to Sly, although the raccoon doesn't seem too interested. All he wanted to see and talk to was Carmelita. He loves and misses her, he can't concentrate on his discussion with Inspector Barkley.

"Ugh such a hassle! Well gorillas, I got more food, let others have the opportunity to eat!"

Sly glances at Carmelita entering the room, feeling more happy and nervous than usual to see her again. The raccoon leaves the badger and heads straight towards Carmelita. Not noticing Sly was behind her, he hugged her from behind. This surprised the fox until she hears her favorite voice in her ears. "I missed you beautiful..."

The fox turns around to Sly smiling at her. "You look stunning tonight Miss Fox, like always."

Carmelita is wearing the same black dress and heels. She wore diamond earing studs and pearl necklace. Her hair was extra shiny and curly as it was put up. Her makeup was perfect, brown eyeshadow, mascara, a little blush, and cherry colored lips. She was perfect to Sly, although he felt a little unsteady.

Carmelita gently placed her head against his broad chest. She listens to his warming heartbeat go faster by the second, making her smile. "Nice to have you here, Constable Cooper."

"Inspector Fox, mind if I take you to your seat?"

"Not at all."

The two hold hands as they slowly walk at the table Rachel is sitting at. Sly pulls out a chair next to Rachel for Carmelita to sit in. "My lady?"

The fox giggles. "What a gentleman..."

That made Rachel roll her eyes. Sly sits next to his beloved fox, thinking to himself yet again.

"So how should I do this... here? Right now, at this table... maybe..."

Carmelita senses something wrong in the ringtail's expression.

"Are you okay Cooper?"

"Y-Yeah... It's just getting hotter in here to me. Either that, or It's just you."

The fox laughs to another cheesy comment Sly made.

No one knows he is actually Sly Cooper, just thinking he's another police officer. Well, no one but Carmelita. If Inspector Barkley knew about Carmelita's affair with a criminal, not only would she get fired, but get arrested herself for dishonoring Interpol. It will only be Sly and Carmelita's secret.

One of the band members spoke into the microphone. "Hello, hope to have all of you entertained for tonight. We will perform this song, I name it 'Fire and Lightning'. It's an exciting song to keep your heart pumping! Enjoy!"

There was a drummer in the back, two guitarist, bass player, and a clarinet player. All of them played in a fast rhythm, all instruments blending together to make a song. Almost all the officers gladly danced in the dance floor. Sly immediately shot up from his seat as he held out his hand towards Carmelita. "C'mon dance with me!"

The fox scratches the back of her neck. "Ha-ha... I don't know..."

"Have fun Carmelita!"

He grabs both of her hands and pulls her out of her chair.

"OKAY, just let me take these heels off."

The fox laughs as the raccoon drags her to the dance floor. He takes off his tuxedo jacket and throws it at Detective Winthorp's table.

The two dance together as if they were teenagers again. Sly swings his fox many times as their feet move to the beat of the song. The guitars played pacefully as the drums put more kick in the beat. The clarinet spits out high notes, making the melody. The noises finally became whole once the bass tied the sounds together with its backround music. Inspector Barkley smiled, watching young people dance joyfully and started to walk towards the stage. He went around the tables as Carmelita and Sly danced together.

"The way her hair sways as we dance... breathtaking."

He takes out Carmelita's hair clips that kept her hair up, watching her long hair drop. The fox smiles at her raccoon and kisses him yet again. He stopped dancing and put his fingers through her hair. The exciting music continued but the two just stood there kissing repeatedly. Another minute went by, then song started to make its finale. Sly smirked with the last kiss and danced to the beat, swinging her around and ending off with him holding his beautiful fox from touching the ground. This made Carmelita uncontrollably blush as he picked her back up.

"I love you ringtail..."

"I love you too, forever and always..."

The two continued to look at each other as everyone applauds for the band.

Sly's heart continued to pump fast. "This is it..." he thought.

Sly holds both of Carmelita's hands tightly with his, his mind no longer working and lets his heart speak for him. Sly's stomach was infested with butterflies, his cheekbones hurting from smiling so much, and feeling he was going to have a heart attack. He deeply looks into her chocolate-brown eyes as he speaks in a calm and low voice.

"Carmelita, there's something important I want to ask you..."

The fox's face turned puzzled. "What is it?"

Just as Sly was going to say another word, Inspector Barkley walks onstage, catching Carmelita's attention. Everyone watches him as he grabs the microphone. "Ninety years ago, my grandfather decided to gather a bunch of officers like himself to make a group called Interpol. Each year passes by and Interpol gets better and better. I've seen it with my own eyes, Carmelita proved it to me. I worked with her father, a good man he was... police work runs in her blood, to fight for justice. She is just as serious as her father in police work. I didn't believe she was up for the job but she proved me wrong. That day she became Inspector Carmelita Fox. I thank her in so many ways, even now that she made this party happen for all of us to remember an important day ninety years ago. I thank her for doing that... so I'd like to have her come up and make a speech so all of you can see how wonderful she is as a cop. Carmelita?"

The fox disconnected hands with Sly as he watches her get on stage. "She deserves this... every second of this. I could never take this career away from her. I care so much about her and whatever she loves, I'm letting her keep. I'm in love... with a cop Mom... she's so perfect... dangerous, but perfect. I bet Mom and Dad will watch me this night, for it will be one of my best."

The fox grins as she talks in the microphone. "Thank you Inspector Barkley... I really enjoy this job... I remember my father would pretend to be a thief so I can bust him. It filled me inside... Without him, I would be a total different person. I thank him more than I thank myself, I'm just walking in his shoes."

Sly walks over to the beverages and pours himself a glass of wine, still listening to her speech.

"I don't know what else to say really... Well I thank my Dad, boyfriend and Inspector Barkley for making this possible for me. I would've missed a lot if I wasn't a cop like I am today."

The fox's eyes glared at Sly with her last sentence, making him smile.

"So I'd like to congratulate Interpol for its ninetieth anniversary!"

Everyone clapped for Inspector Fox as she walked off stage. She went over to Sly as Inspector Barkley spoke in the microphone once more. "So, does anyone else want to make a speech before we continue the party?"

The raccoon thought of a brilliant idea as he raised his hand up in the air. "I do, Inspector."

Carmelita confusingly paused in her steps at the middle of the dancefloor. She watched her raccoon walk on stage. "What is he up to?"

Sly walks over to the microphone and speaks into it, smiling his charming smile Carmelita adores. "Hello Interpol dorks, and lady." Sly smirks at Carmelita. "It's Constable Cooper."

Rachel walks over to her friend. The raccoon looked at everyone around, continuing his speech. "Now, you might've been wondering where I've been for over... what, seven months? Well I'll explain."

Carmelita lifts her eyebrow.

"You see, I had my police work to do in... Egypt. I had to work with new officers to crack the case. A crime happened there and they called me in to investigate it. It took that long to finally find the criminal and send him to jail."

Carmelita smiled, knowing he is making this up. It was too revealing of him being a Cooper if he told the truth.

"The reason Inspector Fox was gone for almost a week was because she found out about the work I was doing and decided to join. It's amazing, without her... the case wouldn't be solved.

Carmelita thought about what he said and remembered when she found the rock from Ancient Egypt. Without her, Sly most likely wouldn't be here today.

"So I hope you understand why I was gone for so long. I would also like cheers to Inspector Fox, for another successful job doing what she does."

Sly held out his glass of wine, grinning at the fox who was blushing. Inspector Barkley took over the microphone.

"What a speech Constable Cooper made. Now does a-"

"Actually, I have one more thing to say..."

Inspector Barkley whispered to the raccoon. "Make it quick loverboy."

...

"This goes out for that special fox..."

Carmelita was confused.

Sly inhaled a large breath. He wasn't nervous anymore because he's speaking with his heart instead of his mind.

"Carmelita Montoya Fox, the first time I lied eyes on you, the day you became Inspector, I knew from that day on I couldn't stay away from you. You are the most beautiful woman I came across to. Not only that, but we had the same likes and dislikes. You were perfect, made for me, and I was made for you. There is only one thing separating us but I want to work with that just to be with you... even if it takes the rest of my life..."

Carmelita starts to get tears in her eyes and walks in front of him. "I know where this is going." thought Rachel.

Sly's right knee was now resting on the stage floor as his left foot did the same. "I want to stay with you for the rest of my life."

Carmelita is now looking down at the raccoon, covering her mouth.

"Carmelita, will you do the honor of being my wife? To stay with me for the rest of your life, to become Mrs. Cooper? Will you... marry me?"

Sly pulls out a diamond ring from his pocket.

It was a silver ring with three big rectangle diamonds in the middle. The three diamonds were surrounded with five mini ones on each side, making the ring have thirteen diamonds. The dim light shines on the ring, making the diamonds glisten. The fox looks at the ring and lets in a loud gasp.

She glares at her beloved raccoon with tearful eyes as she whispers, "Yes."

The raccoon smirked as he took the microphone and put it in between them.

"What? I'm afraid the microphone didn't seem to hear you."

The fox chuckled as she spoke louder. "Yes!"

The audience, including Inspector Barkley made an "aww..." as the raccoon slid the ring on her finger. The two looked in each other's eyes, Carmelita getting close to crying.

Lt. Gronk yelled out, "Just kiss her already!", making everyone in the room laugh. The fox pulled him off stage as he grabs her by the waist, pulling her to him. She places both of her hands on his cheeks, feeling his fur. Sly's lips dived onto Carmelita's, making her kiss his back. Everyone clapped, watching the couple happily kiss, sharing their love.

Inspector Barkley walked off stage as the the band took over. "Here's to these two. I call this song, 'I Won't Give Up'."

The band played a slow song, making Sly take Carmelita to the middle of the dance floor. He put his hands around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Some people watched them and others continued with the party. The only people Sly was focusing on was Carmelita and his mother. "Is this what it feels like Mom..." Sly thought to himself. "...to be in love... I think it is... I will protect her for the rest of my life... even if it kills me, I care so much about her..."

Carmelita lies her head on his chest, still dancing slowly with her fiancé. Their feet stepped back and forth, making their tails sway with them. The slowly turned while doing so, making the two be lost in love...

***Carmelita's house***

Sly and Carmelita are back at her house as they go up to the stairs to her room. Sly was super excited, you can tell by what he says. "We'll plan the wedding, what will be there... who will be there!"

The fox recognizes Sly's enthusiasm as she follows him up the stairs.

"It will be amazing! Maybe get a better and bigger house for us..."

Sly enters the room and steps on the patio, admiring the starry view. Carmelita stands there watching him. She has something in her hands, hiding it behind her back. "Start a family there, maybe even-"

"Freeze criminal!"

Sly stopped talking as he turned to Carmelita, who seems to be pointing her shock pistol at him. He smirked as he walked closer to her. "Criminal? I haven't stolen anything... yet."

The fox grins back. "I beg to differ."

"Prove it."

"I highly doubt you 'bought' that ring." She waves her hand with the ring in the air. "Funny thing how the same ring was stolen from the local mall. I read it in the paper this morning, along with a stolen piano, keytar, and clothes. Did Isabella enjoy those gifts?"

The raccoon chuckled, Carmelita still pointing her gun at him. "Yes she did. Those items aren't worth such a crime. I didn't steal anything too important."

"I doubt that too Cooper. You stole my heart."

Sly smiled even more. "Oh, so you're right. That is a crime I gladly made."

The raccoon held his hands up, devilishly smiling at his fox. "Okay, you got me red handed. What are you gonna do? Put me in jail?"

The fox took off his tuxedo shirt and smiled up at him. Behind the tuxedo was his normal blue shirt. "Yes... but I think I'll give you a ten second head start before I do..."

"I guess I'll start the count down. Ten..."

The fox continued. "Nine..."

"Eight..."

"Seven..."

Sly put his fingers in the fox's hair as she lowered her gun.

"Six..."

"Five..."

The fox hugged the raccoon's broad waist, hearing his low voice say, "Four..."

"Three..."

Their foreheads rested on each others.

"Two..."

"One..."

The two kissed yet again over and over. Carmelita's left hand pressed against his cheek yet points the shock pistol up his chin. "Time's up... this is the part where you run away."

The raccoon happily scurried over the patio and jumps down her backyard. The fox watched the raccoon run to her front yard, making her dash down her stairs, through the kitchen, in the living room, and out the front door. She spots Sly jumping in the back doors of the Cooper van, Bentley, Isabella, and Penelope watching them. Sly, without delay turns to his beloved fox and waves to her.

"Au revoir, gorgeous! I love you!"

The fox slowly points her gun at the raccoon, calmly talking. "I'll be seeing you soon ringtail."

Her pulled the trigger of shock pistol, making Bentley close the left door and Penelope closing the right. Murray steps on the gas pedal, making the van drive fast down the street. Carmelita runs after the van, shooting away in the night. She stopped, smiling to herself as she watches the van go away.

"I'm in love with a criminal..."

* * *

***Did you like it? :D I sure did! This is my first story I made and I liked all my reviews. I'd like to think everyone who reviewed, especially inkandblood0275, Anonymemb R. Cooper, and beattiematt7 for supporting me the most! You guys are the ones who kept me writing. I really enjoy it and I attend to do more. I'd also like to thank (for helping me with synonyms), Sly Cooper Wiki (for some details of Sly Cooper than I didn't remember and/or didn't know how to explain something), and the Slang Dictionary (for Dimitri... lol). I thank Sucker Punch and Sanzaru for having Sly Cooper exist and all those who made it. I've played Sly Cooper for over ten years now! I still play it! I'm going to make a poll for you guys to vote... What Sly Cooper story should I make next? It will go on from now, August 15th, 2013 until mid or late September, and that's when I'll start writing again. I shall do some finishing touches to the story before it becomes complete... What did you like or dislike about my story? Please tell me so I can become better at this. Is the story good but grammar is bad? Do I repeat words too much? Not enough detail, or not clear enough? Perfect? Anyways, Enjoy and I'll get back to you in September. Plus, over 4,600 views in three weeks makes me a REALLY happy camper! Thanks guys! :)**

**Also, the song "I Won't Give Up" is from Jason Mraz (great song in my opinion), not me. I do not own Sly Cooper, Sucker Punch and Sanzaru does. I made up Marta/Isabella, Rachel Burns, and Paxton. All the rest are either from the game, Adventures of Sly Cooper comics (awesome by the way!) or both.***

**~Latest Update~**

**Check out the second book of the series, "Sly Cooper: A Master Thief's Valuable Treasures". That is a continuation of this book. Hope you like it!**


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